Hostage Rescue
by Ominae
Summary: Leon and Kevin are deployed to Spain to covertly locate and rescue Ashley Graham under orders from the Division of Security Operations after receiving intelligence that she was last seen in Spain. But the two aren't the only ones sent there. There are others sent to Spain for various reasons.
1. Getting In

Resident Evil/Biohazard: Hostage Rescue

Rating: T

NOTE:

All characters of Resident Evil/Captain Commando/Street Fighter are under the copyright of Capcom. All characters of Martin Mystery are under the copyright of Marathon. All characters of Kara no Kyokai are under the copyright of TYPE-MOON. All characters of Spriggan are under the copyright of Hiroshi Takashige and Ryoji Minagawa. All characters of Jiraishin are under the copyright of Tsutomu Takahashi. All others are under my jurisdiction.

Summary:

Leon and Kevin are deployed to Spain to covertly locate and rescue Ashley Graham under orders from the Division of Security Operations after receiving intelligence that she was last seen in Spain. But the two aren't the only ones sent there. There are others sent to Spain for various reasons. Multiple character crossovers.

Chapter 1: Getting in

* * *

><p>2004<p>

Inside Guardia Civil 2003 Nissan Terrano II, somewhere in Spain

* * *

><p>Leon Kennedy and Kevin Ryman, two of the four surviving ex-Raccoon City Police Department officers from its Select Police Force (SPF) division were inside the SUV of a Guardia Civil Nissan Terrano II as they were being driven to the rural parts of Spain. Yesterday, the two special agents were told by the CIA that Ashley was sighted in a village somewhere in Spain and that the two men needed to go there and check out the rumors if she's there or not.<p>

"Least the CIA was nice to get us a direct flight to Madrid and all." Kevin sighed, stretching his legs on the passenger seat of the Terrano II. He wore a black military jacket and cargo pants and a pair of 9 inch HAIX Airpower Jungle Boots on. Underneath was a gray shirt.

"You think so?" Leon told Kevin, looking outside. "Especially considering that we're part of the Secret Service for our official cover." Unlike Kevin, Leon has a brown bomber jacket on with the same cargo pants as Kevin. He had a black shirt on and 8 inch Bates Enforcer boots.

"Yep. Be nice if we're in DSO full time."

"Who are you two really? Come on and tell us." One of the Guardia Civil officers spoke to Leon and Kevin. "You two are a long way from home. Both of you have our sympathies."

"That's an interesting way of introduction." Kevin raised an eyebrow.

"Indeed." Leon agreed with Kevin.

"Well we're not gonna spoil anything 'cept we're here to confirm rumors that the American President's missing daughter was suppose to be somewhere around here."

"Nope." Leon insisted. "Unless you two tagged along to sing a song by the bonfire." He then sighed. "Then again, maybe you guys did."

The Guardia Civil officer raised an eyebrow. "You have to be kidding. Ah you crazy Americans. It's a direct order from the chief himself."

"By the way," Kevin went to ask the Guardia Civil officers. "there's another SUV behind us with the same Guardia Civil markings..."

"Oh yes." The officer nodded. "One of the occupants back there is a detective from Japan. A woman in fact."

Leon raised an eyebrow. _Looks like this investigation's turning out to be a lot interesting._

"I can't recall who the other two are actually." The officer scratched the back of his head. "I know one of them's with Interpol. But the other one, she's kind of quiet."

"You know who she is."

"Her accent was English, that I can tell."

"Well what do you know?" Kevin grinned at Leon. "I think I'm liking this mission already, pal."

"Get focused will ya?" Leon raised an eyebrow at Kevin. "Just because we got women investigators with us doesn't matter we ought to take it easy."

"Right, right."

"They probably got different reasons why they decided to tag with us."

The Guardia Civil convoy stopped temporarily so that one of the officers could take a break and piss. He was finished in a few minutes, getting back to the SUV before the journey continued.

* * *

><p>Outskirts of nearby house, near village, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>The two Guardia Civil Nissan Terrano IIs arrived at the outskirts of an unknown house. The vehicles were parked on a trail leading to some local village after navigating through a wooden bridge that was fortunately able to handle their weight.<p>

"Well we're here."

Kevin got out of the Terrano II, followed by Leon. Both men had their fingerless gloves on.

"What do you think?" Leon asked Kevin, pointing to the old house up ahead.

Kevin took out a pair of military-grade binoculars and zoomed in to take a look. "Looks like creepsville, but it's the only place where we can start."

"I know. Reminds me... of that place."

The two agents took note of three women exiting the second Guardia Civil SUV. A couple of them were Asian and one of them was Caucasian.

"What the? I noticed the two of them." Kevin whispered to Leon when they turned around. "It's Chun-Li from Interpol and Agent Cammy from Delta Red."

"You're right." Leon nodded and then eyed the other Asian woman. "But who's the other woman?"

"That's what I like to know."

"I take it that you're the two American agents assigned to this case?"

Leon and Kevin noted that Cammy was the first to speak to them. "Cammy White, Delta Red of MI6."

"Leon Kennedy." The two shook hands. "This is my partner, Kevin Ryman. _Officially_ we are with the Secret Service to investigate Ashley Graham's kidnapping. Then again, we're not..."

"I understand the situation." Cammy smirked when she later shook hands with Kevin. "So there's no need to explain it to me."

_She's quite the looker. _Kevin grinned while he shook hands with Cammy.

"But where's your team?" Leon asked.

"MI6 decided that it was risky to send them, so I came alone."

"Agent Chun-Li from Hong Kong. I'm here to investigate on an INTERPOL capacity." The Chinese woman shook hands with Leon and Kevin.

"Pleased to meet you. You were quite impressive back then in the tournaments I've seen on TV." Leon told Chun-Li.

Chun-Li smirked. "Never knew I got a fan from Mr. Kennedy here."

"I am." Kevin grinned when he shook hands with her.

"At least I'm appreciated."

The other Asian woman approached Leon and Kevin. She had long black hair that nearly touched her shoulders. She had a black windbreaker, gray hiking pants and military-type boots.

"Detective Eriko Aizawa of the National Police Agency." Eriko bowed to Leon and Kevin before she shook their hands.

"So the NPA's interested in this case too?" Kevin asked Eriko after she made her introduction.

"Only because of a case in Shinjuku." Eriko explained. "It's my jurisdiction after all."

"Seems that each of you ladies are here 'cause of whoever is hiding in this place."

Cammy nodded. "Delta Red's been trying to investigate a cult named Los Illuminados and its ties to the Real IRA after MI6 headquarters was attacked back in 2000. My assignment here is to see whether Delta Red can use this lead since it's all I got."

"A cult with ties to a terrorist group?" Leon said, hearing what Cammy mentioned. "Now this is getting interesting."

"INTERPOL got word that the group has been helping the Shadaloo Intimidation Network or SIN with the black market." Chun-Li explained her position. "I'm here to get to the bottom of things and see if they're helping SIN after the death of its leader Seth."

"Looks like they're trying to get its game back together even after Shadowlaw was taken down." Kevin sighed. "Can't seem to learn."

Leon asked Eriko. "Um, mind if I ask what kind of case are you involved in, Detective?"

"Certainly." Eriko nodded. "A case came to my attention when an arrest came for radical Aleph members accused of stockpiling assault rifles to free Shoko Asahara from prison prior to his execution. Among their foreign contacts include Los Illuminados, which is the reason why I came here. I'm one of the few officers in the force who can speak Spanish."

"I think I'll make a vow to let my friends and family not to join nutjob religious organizations like that." Kevin sighed. He remembered it too well when he saw the events of the Tokyo subway attack on the tube once during a break at the local diner back in Raccoon City when it was still T-Virus-free.

"Since we're all here to check on whether the group has ties to our investigations," Leon told the ladies. "we're about to start asking some questions to the nearest house."

"That looks creepy." Chun-Li muttered.

"I don't think we have a choice in the matter." Cammy told the INTERPOL officer. "Not unless we want to be stuck here all day."

Leon got out his radio, which looked like a mobile phone except that he unfolded a panel to show two video screens. Both went live and it showed him and a woman in her middle 20s. She had Caucasian features, eyeglasses and a headset worn over her head.

_Looks the phone cam's working._

**"Leon, Kevin. I hope you two can hear me."**

**"Loud and clear, beautiful."** Kevin replied.

The woman sighed. **"I'm Ingrid Hunnigan and I'll be your support for this mission."**

**"Loud and clear.**" Leon replied. He and Kevin gave each other the thumbs up.

**"So Ashley Graham was reported to be in this village?"** Kevin asked Ingrid after confirming the transmissions.

**"That's right. She's the president's daughter. So try and behave you two, okay?"**

**"Whoever this group is, they sure picked the wrong girl to kidnap."** Leon told Ingrid after hearing he and Kevin needed to behave.

**"I'll try to find more information on my end."** Ingrid replied.** "One more thing guys. We'll be working with Delta Red, INTERPOL and the National Police Agency on this matter. They've also agreed to keep the investigation under wraps due to the potential links to the kidnapping as well."**

**"Understood. Leon and Kevin out."** Kevin said, putting his radio away by putting it in a pouch on his harness hidden underneath his jacket.

"You guys coming?" Leon asked the Guardia Civil officers.

"We can't." One of them replied. "Got to stay here and make sure we don't get parking tickets."

"Che. Sure." Kevin rolled his eyes.

"Meanwhile, we need to ask about that truck blocking the way." Cammy pointed out the truck nearby that blocked the way of the trail they're on.

* * *

><p>A ninja wearing purple Shinobi Shozoku watched Leon, Kevin and the three women make their approach towards the old, wooden house. He stared at Leon and Kevin, the two agents leading Cammy, Chun-Li and Eriko towards the house before Leon opened the door for them to get inside. He had a Tekko-kagi worn over his right hand. His ninjato was placed on a saya strapped on his back.<p>

But unknown to that ninja, another one was watching him and the people on the ground from another tree. The other ninja has a star on his Shinobi Shozoku and he had a ninjato and a katana with their sayas at the back of his waist.

* * *

><p>Inside House, near village, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"Excúseme sir. ¿Pero usted importa de si le pedimos algo?" Eriko took the lead in asking the man question in her fluent Spanish. The man ignored her as he was busy tending to his fireplace.<p>

Eriko showed him the photo of Ashley and asked. "¿Usted sabe si usted tiene esta mujer en la foto?"

The man got angry and shouted at her, looking at his fireplace. "¿Qué carajo estás haciendo aquí? ¡Lárgate, cabrón!"

The Japanese detective looked at Leon and whispered. "He's not interested in helping us."

Leon nodded before Eriko said, "Nuestras apologías, sir."

Kevin saw that the man was about to grab the axe. He then attempted to slash at Eriko and the others.

"AAH!" She moved out of the way, nearly falling down. Chun-Li and Cammy were there to give her a hand.

"No se mueva!" Kevin shouted at the axe-armed man, who drew out a Glock 21 Mariner pistol and took aim at the _crazed _man. Leon did the same when he drew out his Silver Ghost pistol.

"No se mueva!" Kevin repeated the warning. When the two agents see that the man refused to lower his axe, the ex-SPF officers fired their pistols until the man went down on the ground.

"What the hell is he?" Leon said, lowering his Silver Ghost. "Doesn't act like a zombie."

"Not possible." Kevin told Leon. "He seemed to be sentient. I mean, he replied to Eriko and all before he decided to go ballistic."

The group turned their attention outside, looking outside to see the truck now moving before it rammed the Guardia Civil SUVs, running them over before the vehicles fell over the ravine with the officers still inside.

"Oh god." Cammy whispered, seeing the SUVs go over.

"What now?" Chun-Li said, watching various locals surround the house with farming tools as weapons like pitchforks and sickles. She counted 8 of them.

Leon and Kevin received incoming radio transmissions, making the two men pick up their radios.

**"Is everything okay?" **Ingrid asked.

**"There was a local hostile. We had no choice but to neutralize him." **Leon reported, explaining the situation.

Cammy gestured to Leon and Kevin to see outside.

**"Just to let you know, we're being surrounded by locals outside. And they're not here to greet us and all." **Kevin told Ingrid of their situation.

**"Get out of there and head to the village." **Ingrid told the agents. **"Take whatever measures necessary to save the subject."**

**"Roger that." **

"Great." Eriko huffed, drawing out her Sig Sauer P228 from her shoulder holster. "Now we're in trouble."

* * *

><p>Outside House, near village, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>A door frame-sized portal materialized on the trail, revealing a bunch of people including a familiar person with brown hair.<p>

"This is most likely Spain." Martin said, being the first person to step out of the portal. "Or so I hoped."

"And intelligence is right." Diana sighed. "We're in the middle of nowhere..."

"Java ready for anything." The caveman told the two.

"I'm sure you are, Java-san." Fujino told Java before she looked around. "Is this the right place?"

The group were greeted by shouts in Spanish, four of the locals moving towards Martin and company while the other four converged in on the house to attack Leon and company.

"Seems so, guys." Jill got out her Beretta Px4 Type F pistol from the holster on her right leg. "Dammit, we got hostiles..." She took aim with the iron sights at the nearest hostile villager after the portal disappeared, armed with a rusting spade.

Martin got the U-Watch to activate, giving Diana the X-Rod while he got the I-Cutter.

Java pounded his clenched fist on his palm, indicating his readiness to fight.

Fujino got to her O-Watch and retrieved her own I-Cutter, which had the handle of tactical Tanto knife. She activated the energy blade, which resembled an 8.5 inch blade that had been flipped out of the handle.

* * *

><p>"Is that Jill Valentine?" Chun-Li, seeing the portal appear with her and the Center agents.<p>

"No time to think about that!" Leon told her, kicking the door hard to catch one of the villagers off guard while carrying a pitchfork. He fired his Silver Ghost several times before one of the shots struck his face, making him dizzy.

"HAH!" The ex-SPF officer shouted, executing a roundhouse kick to send him back to the ground.

Kevin had his attention on another villager, charging at him with a heavy-duty rake aimed for his throat. He dodged it by stepping to the side while using his pistol as a melee weapon to smack his face before he kicked him on the stomach.

"Your timing sucks!" shouted Kevin. The ex-SPF officer then fired his Glock 21 after taking careful aim at the head, seeing the villager go down after being shot in the forehead.

Cammy and Chun-Li teamed up to fight off the last two crazed villagers, armed with sickles.

"Careful." The Delta Red operative told the INTERPOL officer.

"I know." Chun-Li went on the offensive first, going for one of the sickle-armed villagers before she did her Lightning Kick trademark. "Hyakuretsukyaku!"

The villager was hit literally by several feet going for his head, chest, neck, arms and legs. He went down hard after being kicked on the stomach by what seemed to be the 100th foot.

Cammy followed up with her own attack when she ran for the other villager. She executed the Hooligan Combination, moving close to his head before grabbing it with her legs.

"EYAH!" The blonde-haired woman shouted after she slammed the villager's head onto the ground.

Eriko fired her P228 on any of the villagers trying to stand up after being attacked by Cammy and Chun-Li, watching them shout in pain before they were dead for good.

* * *

><p>Control Room, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Krauser was wearing an 82nd Airborne Division beret with a black shirt, desert choco chip pants and black Altama boots alongside knee pads and a combat harness worn on his chest. He was playing around with his CQD Mark V Advanced Tactical Fighter combat knife.<p>

"Seems that Saddler has gotten some of you into his little plan after we kidnapped the President's kid." He stared at an Asian woman, armed with a Heckler & Koch MSG-90A1 sniper rifle. She wore CADPAT AR camo and black Altama boots.

"I'm not the only one after all, Krauser." The Asian woman told Krauser. "You think that you're the only one that man considers you to be important."

"Relax, Kei Amami." Krauser told Kei. "You'll get your chance. Besides, Wesker has provided us intelligence that a detective from the Japanese National Police Agency's in the country."

"Ah, fellow countryman." Kei smirked. "This should be exciting."

Krauser turned around to see the Tekko-kagi-armed ninja come inside.

"They have arrived as we speak." The ninja told Krauser.

"I'm pretty sure the villagers are going to give our guest a _good welcome_. I hope you weren't followed."

"I hope so." The ninja brandished his Tekko-kagi. "I'm excited to give them a good show on my skills. And don't worry, I wasn't."

"We should be getting at least one more person in with us, Geki." Krauser told the ninja. "Don't know the name though..."

"I personally don't care." Geki brought out his ninjato from the saya for emphasis. "As long as I'll be able to fight them later on."

* * *

><p>Outside House, near village, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Jill fired his Px4 Type F pistol at one of the villagers armed with an axe at the knees. Java moved in and used his fists to do a double punch attack.<p>

"AAAHHH!" Java yelled, punching the villagers hard on their right temple.

Diana faced off against two villagers with scythes after she extended the X-Rod to a staff, twirling the weapon before she swept them off their feet. A few seconds later, they got up and grabbed their scythes once again.

"Bend." Fujino said, concentrating on incapacitating their villagers by twisting their legs hard. When the villagers saw this, they crawled towards the Reien Girls Academy student in anger.

Jill saw this and fired her pistol at the crawling villagers, killing them after shooting them with a few shots on their bodies.

"They don't act like the zombies in Dawn of the Dead." Martin frowned, using his I-Cutter to slash the pitchfork of the other villager into two, reducing his fighting capacity. "Then again, they're not regular people."

"I don't know Martin-san." Fujino told Martin. "They act like they're under someone's control."

"Doesn't sound strange to me. It's possible that they don't like outsiders." Martin told her. The two got their I-Cutters ready. "Let's do this." They saw one more villager was left facing them. _Three down, one to go._

The flail-armed villager got to swing the flail attached on the stick as he was nearing the two Center agents.

"Bend." Fujino whispered, seeing the flail started to get cracked up.

"I gotta do this." Martin slashed the man on the chest and followed it with a roundhouse kick. The villager stumbled and tried to grab Martin.

"Let go!" Martin shouted, struggling with the villager when he dropped his I-Cutter. "Damn, he's strong!"

Java grabbed a nearby log and he began to swing it, smacking on the villager as the caveman watched him hit the back of his head on a nearby tree trunk. Very hard.

"Is he dead?" Diana asked, seeing the villager hit the tree trunk hard.

Java moved in and poked him with his foot. "He not moving, Diana."

"Glad to see you guys are okay." Jill holstered her sidearm once the threat has subsided.

She then spotted Leon and Kevin running towards where the rope bridge had formerly been, followed by Cammy, Chun-Li and Eriko.

"Come on." Jill told the Center agents. "Looks like something big's going on."

* * *

><p>Near Edge of Ravine, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"This can't be good." Leon stared down at the ravine, crouching down so that he won't fall. He saw the truck overturned with the Guardia Civil Nissan Terrano II SUVs in various wrecked states.<p>

"No corpses." Kevin stated, seeing no bodies from the Guardia Civil or from the crazed villagers. "This'll be hard."

"We're cut off." Eriko said, looking down the ravine. "It's like they knew we're coming from the start."

**"Hey." **Kevin made contact with Ingrid via radio. **"Just letting you know that the villagers cut off our escape route and our Guardia Civil escorts are apparently missed. Maybe dead based on our situation, Hunnigan."**

Ingrid sighed upon hearing the news. **"Understood. I'll inform the relevant parties at once. I don't think the Spanish Interior Minister and the Director-General are going to be pleased by that news."**

**"Yeah, I know." **Kevin spotted Jill and the Center agents approaching the ravine as well, looking down. **"Leon and I will head to the village to conduct our investigation. Kevin out."  
><strong>

"Leon, Kevin." Jill greeted the two by shaking their hands. "It's good to see a familiar face around here."

"Of course I can't forget a face like yours." Kevin said, trying to act smooth. Jill raised an eyebrow at him while Leon wanted to slap his face after hearing what Kevin had said.

"Pleasure to meet you at last, Ms. Valentine." Chun-Li greeted Jill.

"Likewise." Cammy added after she and Chun-Li shook hands with Jill.

"It's an honor to meet you guys responsible for bringing down Shadowlaw." Jill told Cammy and Chun-Li.

Eriko shook hands with Jill as well. "Greetings, Ms. Valentine. Detective Eriko Aizawa from the National Police Agency."

"Please, just call me Jill. I insist."

"Who are these guys by the way?" Leon asked Jill, using his thumb to refer to Martin and the others.

"I'm temporarily assigned to the Center by the way." Jill explained. "Martin Mystery, Diana Lombard, Java and Fujino Asagami. I'm helping them with the case related to the cult." Jill introduced Martin and the others to Leon and company.

"Hey!"

"Hi."

"Hello."

"A pleasure to meet you all."

"He's acting like a caveman." Kevin whispered to Leon about Java when he introduced himself.

"Yeah, I know." Leon whispered back. "But he's on our side, so he could come in handy."

"Could be."

"Since we're cut off from civilization." Chun-Li told the gathered group. "I think it's in our best interest to investigate the village and find out any important clues we can use against Los Illuminados."

"Right. I agree with you." Leon nodded. "Let's move."

Leon and Kevin led the way, drawing out their sidearms. Jill and Eriko followed the two agents with their own sidearms drawn out.

The I-Cutters and the X-Rod used by Martin, Fujino and Diana dematerialized as they went with the others. Java kept his pace up with the Center agents as Cammy and Chun-Li guarded their backs. On their way, they searched the house and the places where the corpses were outside for anything useful. So far, they obtained some pesetas and a box of handgun ammo, which puzzled Leon, Kevin, Jill and Eriko.

"One thing Kevin." Leon asked Kevin. "Where'd you learn to speak Spanish?"

"Does spending time with the Cuban community in Miami count?" Kevin told Leon.

Leon kept silent.

* * *

><p>Shed, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>The group stopped by some shed that was on the trail, seeing some rectangular boxes on a table and on the shelves.<p>

"What's with those boxes?" Diana commented, seeing them inside.

"Better take a look." Leon drew out his Mercworx Sniper combat knife from a reversible knife sheath on his combat harness hidden underneath his bomber jacket. He smashed them open with the combat knife, revealing pesetas, a Green herb and a box of handgun ammo.

"I'll take that." Jill took the handgun ammo box.

"What's with those coins anyway?" Martin mused as the pesetas were taken.

"I don't know." Diana told her stepbrother. "Well Spain is using the Euro with the rest of the EU. The area's probably isolated so much that they didn't change their currency."

"Got a green herb too." Leon showed Jill and Kevin something familiar.

"Pretty useful there, partner." Kevin grinned at Leon.

"Well, I'm fine right now so I'll keep this guy just in case."

The group continued on their walk, hoping that it can lead them somewhere. When they found the signpost with the skull attached, they didn't feel good and wondered what kind of person would have done that in the first place.

* * *

><p>On Trail, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Cammy motioned to the group to stop, helping a dog get out of the foothold trap. It barked twice before moving to the forest.<p>

"Didn't know you were into dogs." Martin said, seeing Cammy free the dog.

"Well I love cats." The British woman told Martin. "Seeing it in that trap reminded me of my free time when I play around with cats. It eases my stress levels."

"Right."

A sign found on the side said **EL PUEBLO** with the arrow pointing straight ahead.

"The village is up ahead." Eriko told the others.

"Thanks, Eriko." Leon thanked Eriko, keeping an eye out for hostiles ahead of them.

The group continued walking, no hostile villager up ahead. In fact, it seemed to be this way until Leon and Kevin advised them to stop completely.

"What is it?" Jill asked.

Kevin pointed to the culprit: It was electrical cable, serving as the trip wire, tied to two bunches of dynamite on two trees.

"Looks like they got the red carpet." Leon said, observing the rigged trees.

"¡Allí son!"

"Looks like we're spotted."

Three villagers charged in towards the group. One of them was moving in on the group, being very near the rigged trees.

"I'll do this!" Cammy charged in towards the villager, using a Spiral Arrow. "Take that!" The rigged trees were blown up when the villager was knocked off towards the tripwire, blowing the dynamite up and knocking off the other two down.

Leon and Kevin fired their pistols at the downed villagers until they keeled over.

"That ought to do it." Leon said.

"I agree." Kevin shared the same sentiment.

"What's with the bodies melting?" Leon saw the bodies of the villagers melt away. "Not all of the villagers we killed died like that."

"That is a good question." Jill told him. "I guess if we find Ashley and bring down whoever kidnapped her, we'll probably know why they die like that."

"We better move." Cammy said after she searched the dead villagers only for pesetas. The group moved on as they walked the trail, stopping on another shed for Leon to collect pesetas and ammo for Kevin's Glock 21 Mariner as it handles .45 ACP.

"Strange..." Kevin muttered as he took the handgun ammo box. "Why's this village having these things? I know in parts of Europe that 9mm Para for instance is not allowed due to its status as a security force round." Leon took another green herb.

"We don't have time to contemplate on that." Jill reminded Kevin. "Better concentrate on this case instead."

"You're right, Jill. Sorry"

* * *

><p>In another part of the forest, two armed figures were running towards the direction of the village on higher ground. So far, they were not detected by the villagers. If any of them tried to look at the trees, they simply passed it off as the wind being responsible for the noise in the forest and not due to human activity.<p>

* * *

><p>On Trail, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"Looks like this part of the mission's a cakewalk."<p>

Martin grinned when he was walking with the rest of the group.

"There's another bridge." Fujino pointed to the others.

"With the welcome wagon." Cammy said, watching three villagers come at them with axes.

Chun-Li took the initiative, executing a strong Kikoken to knock one of them off ground and onto the ravine.

Jill fired a few shots from her pistol on the second villager, stunning him. This gave her enough time to do a cartwheel kick to knock him out.

Java joined in the fight, using his fists only to smack the third villager. When he got up again, Fujino uttered "Bend" to distort him by twisting his body that he was not recognizable.

"Ugh..." Martin felt a bit sick. "Maybe you ought to cut that out, Fujino."

"She can actually do that?" Leon was amazed to see Fujino with a psychic skill.

"It's a long story." Diana told the ex-SPF officer. "And I'm not kidding when I say that it's a long story."

"Let's go." Kevin told the others, leading the group across the bridge. He walked slowly as he didn't want to fall off should the wooden bridge move around a lot. _I hate these bridges._

"Java no like bridge." The caveman had a hard time walking on the bridge. Considering that it swayed a bit from left to right was not a good sign. The others did so at least, moving carefully on the wooden bridge.

"I agree, Java-san." Fujino did not like the fact that the bridge was made from wood and rope, two things that can be easily destroyed if one would use the right weapons, powers or equipment.

They moved on once again onto another shed. Martin drew out his I-Cutter and smashed the crates to get another box of .45 ACP ammo and pesetas. The blonde teen got it while Kevin collected the ammo.

"Thanks, kiddo." Kevin thanked Martin.

"No problem" Martin replied to the brown-haired man.

After getting back on the trail once more, a huge gate that had a staff insignia on it.

"Look." Chun-Li pointed out to Leon and Krauser. "That insignia. I saw it in an INTERPOL report before I went here."

"Our next destination, I take it?" Cammy said.

"Seems like it."

Java and Kevin moved in towards the double gate doors. They both grabbed a metal ring used to open one of the gate doors and slowly pulled it.

"The village." Leon said, aiming his Silver Ghost up ahead.

"Seems to be normal." Diana said, seeing nothing unusual. "At least it seems to be."

"We better check." Chun-Li checked, honing her detective instinct. "I'm not liking this at all."

Leon nodded in agreement, leading the group first as he went through the opened gate.

* * *

><p>El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Java and Kevin closed the gate carefully behind them without drawing any kind of attention towards them now that they were inside the outskirts of the El Pueblo or Village in English.<p>

The group walked towards the village when Leon motioned to them to stick by the trees. While doing so, he took out a pair of binoculars. Seeing something by the fire in the center of the village, Leon zoomed in and was shocked to see what it is.

"Something up?" Kevin whispered before he took out his own binoculars.

"Yeah. And it's not that pretty to see."

"Anything?" Cammy asked, being next to Leon and Kevin.

"Have a look." Leon handed Cammy the binoculars. "Scope out the big fire in the middle and you'll see."

Cammy did so as told by Leon, taking the binoculars from him. "My god."

"What's happening?" Jill was looking at the fire as well.

"Two of our missing Guardia Civil officers are in that fire." Cammy told Jill. "That includes being in the stake like the witch-hunts of old."

The others felt sorry for the deceased officers after hearing the news.

"Why would they do such a thing?" Diana said to herself, looking at the fire.

"Had a feeling that they're under someone's influence." Martin told his stepsister. "Probably gave them the order to do so."

Kevin scanned the church-like building and stared at the entrance.

"The entrance has the same insignia." Kevin told the others.

"Is that where they congregate?" Chun-Li asked the agent.

"Guess so." Kevin replied. "Thing is, where do we start from here? We obviously can't go in there blazing since we could be surrounded in a matter of seconds."

"Now that's a good question." Jill told Kevin, looking around if there is something they can do.

"Should we do a distraction, Jill-san?" Fujino asked the woman.

"There are a lot of hiding places we can use around this village." Cammy advised.

* * *

><p>The two armed figures silently infiltrated the village, using the houses for cover as they made their way to the tower. Once they confirmed that they were able to get in the tower without being compromised in any way, the two began to climb upward the tower via wooden ladder fast as they don't want to be caught if they lingered around.<p>

* * *

><p>"Hold on a second here." Leon had barely caught a glimpse of the two men who had infiltrated the village and into the tower. He got the binoculars again and checked the tower entrance. <em>Did I just see someone?<em>

"Something wrong?" Cammy asked Leon if something was wrong.

"Strange. Thought I saw two people infiltrating the place like some kinda commando."

"We could do that." Jill suggested to Leon. "As long as we're not spotted."

"I'll have to agree." Kevin agreed with Jill's suggestion. "I don't think we can hold out for a big firefight."

After a few minutes of thinking it over, Leon told the group. "All right. But we'll need to head someplace else to get out of the village area."

"Thing is, we need to sort this place out." Cammy told Leon. "I'm not sure if we'll even find a _proper exit_ out of here."

Leon agreed with Cammy. "So where do we start?"

"Alguien está ahí!"

* * *

><p>Control Room, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"So you guys know what to do..." Krauser told Geki and Kei. "You two will keep our incoming heroes busy when the time comes and I'll secure the Plaga sample from Saddler when he doesn't even know it."<p>

"And how will Wesker be able to exfiltrate us out of this place?" Geki told Krauser. "You know that the plan can backfire any minute now."

"Relax. I've got a plan or two that can help us get outta here should times go FUBAR."

"Hopefully you are right." Kei told Krauser.

* * *

><p>El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"Alguien está ahí!"<p>

The group saw that the villagers were looking at the tower up ahead next to the church.

"What's happening?" Martin asked as he saw the villager congregate towards the structure with much hostility.

"There." Jill whispered, pointing to the tower where two figures were seen.

"What the heck are they doing?" Leon whispered, watching the two figures brandish an assault rifle and a shotgun. "Holy shit..."

The two armed figures opened fire at the congregating villagers from the safety of the tower after one of them had attempted to hurl dynamite before it was shot up, blowing him and some of the other villagers to pieces literally.

"Looks like we can use them to sneak past." Kevin gave a suggestion.

"All right everyone. Stick close and be careful." Leon told the others, moving first as they attempted to sneak past the crowd and the gunfight via the back portion of the houses to avoid being caught.

"Let's go." Eriko called on the rest, moving behind as they infiltrated the village via the back route on the left of the main road they were in a while ago.

"I hope they were able to give much distraction." Chun-Li whispered. A minute later, they heard grenades blowing up nearby.

"Looks like that's a yes." Kevin grinned at Chun-Li.

The group was successful in using the back as the villagers were being picked off by gunfire.

"Whoever they are, they're pretty good." Fujino commented as they had passed the barn without any incident. _Looks like the back route's already working. _

A few minutes later, the sounds of gunfire began to increase as the group began to pass through the first house they see without any incident again.

"Second house up ahead." Cammy told the group, being the first to take the lead from Leon this time.

It seems that things were going to do well.

Until the sound of something beeping was coming from the group.

* * *

><p>Control Room, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"Ah, greetings to you all." A blonde ponytailed woman in her late 40s arrived inside the control room. "I hope I didn't keep you all waiting." She had a red, black and yellow suit jacket with red pants and black and yellow boots.<p>

"Who are you?" Geki was wondering who the ponytailed woman.

"Allow me to introduce myself." The ponytailed woman replied. "My name is Octavia Paine and I'm the founder and head of the CIHL."

"The Creature Intelligence Hybrid Laboratory?" Krauser raised an eyebrow at Octavia. "Heard your story and all was that your an ex-Center agent went rogue after you didn't look at your agent evaluation that well."

"I thought the CIHL stood for the Creative Institute of Higher Learning?" Kei asked Octavia, confused at the abbreviation she mentioned.

"Ah." Octavia said. "That's just for cover, mind you." She faced Krauser. "Now I believed I was summoned here for a reason?"

"Just letting you know that Wesker wants the Plaga sample secured. He's also letting you know that he's looking forward to whatever resources you got to help us pull off the job."

"That can taken care of." Octavia reassured Krauser. "I've gotten some... assets ready for that eventuality."

"Then I'll assume that the anti-paranormal agency got some people already in Spain?"

"Indeed. I've got a mole in the Center who informed me on that."

"Wesker's got some people involved as well, but we'll need a bigger picture on who's in besides the Secret Service based on good info from a mole of ours. I won't be surprised if Wesker got someone too from the Center."

"The only thing to do is to wait and see for the hero to expose himself to save President Graham's daughter." Kei told the others inside the control room.

* * *

><p>El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>The beeping sound everyone heard in the village came from the direction of Martin's U-Watch.<p>

"Doesn't that thing have a silent function or something?" Diana angrily asked her stepbrother.

"I don't know if MOM debriefed me on that." Martin sighed when he told his stepsister. "Never had been in this kind of situation before."

"Great." Kevin wanted to give Martin a lesson by shouting at him for failing the rule of stealth: Making noise.

¡Ahí está!

Some of the villagers began to approach them from the front. Leon motioned to them to move back until they can find a way out.

"Here." Fujino whispered, pointing to the others a path out from the back.

Martin covertly pressed a button twice on his U-Watch.

"Looks like we got no choice but to move out fast and quick before we're mincemeat." Kevin told Leon, glancing at the back to see a few more villagers advancing at their rear with sickles and more dynamite. Unlit ones that is. "Now that our cover's blown."

When Leon took another glance at the back while moving away from some of the advancing villagers, he noted that most of them had a clear path away.

"MOVE!"

Leon raised his Silver Ghost and he aimed the laser sight mounted underneath the pistol at one of the villagers by the forehead...

* * *

><p>On Center Bell Boeing CV-22B, en route to El Pueblo, somewhere in Spanish airspace<p>

* * *

><p><strong>"Apologies for the trouble, agents." <strong>MOM's face was seen in a holographic projection from an O-Watch, which is only issued to Center agents assigned to SHADOW, its black ops division known in the underworld and in law enforcement for doing missions against criminal/terrorist elements known to be using alien/paranormal items or collaborating with such entities. **"But Billy found out that our portal system was not working after you two were sent to our Spanish base. So far now, we'll have to drop you into the village from our tiltrotor aircraft where we last noted Martin's location."  
><strong>

**"A bug?" **Dan raised an eyebrow after hearing what MOM said. **"So how are we going to know Martin's position? Does his U-Watch have a tracking device or something that we can utilize?" **He wore the BDU of the Indonesian Army Raider's _RAIDERS Digital Camouflage_, complete with tac vest and a holster strapped on his right leg in the same camo type. A compact assault rifle was seen slinged on his left shoulder.**  
><strong>

MOM sighed. **"After that incident with the CIHL and all, I held an emergency meeting with other Center officers and that was among the recommendations passed to make work in the field a bit better. However, the tracking bug is activated only when the agent using the U-Watch presses it in time of need. All SHADOW agents have no need for it since a tracking bug is activated always 24/7 to immediately respond back and forth from the Center should the need arise." **The black-haired woman stared at her console before she replied. **"It seems that Martin was able to use the bug in time, so we're deploying you two to a specific location in the Spanish countryside."  
><strong>

**"Is this in the test phase?"**

**"It is for the time being."  
><strong>

_Sounds kinda creepy to me if I can say so myself._**  
><strong>

**"Is there anything else, MOM?"**

The voice came from another SHADOW agent who was seated inside the tiltrotor as it made its way to the village, head down facing the ground even though his head was clad in a balaclava. In addition, he wore a JGSDF _Type II Flecktarn camouflage _BDU with a tac vest as well and a holster on his left leg in the same camo type. A compact assault rifle was also seen on his lap. The said agent had a Green Singaporean Army Infantry beret on over his balaclava-clad head.

**"After we drop you into the area, both of you are ordered to remain in radio silence for the meantime until we contact you or Martin? Is that clear?"**

Dan nodded. **"Understood, MOM. Agent Dan out."  
><strong>

"So we're deployed at last." The balaclava-clad SHADOW agent sighed. "Least I'll get my revenge on Krauser for the time I was in COSMOS."

"Is that why you agreed to this mission, Mark?" Dan asked his colleague seriously.

Mark sighed. "Partial would be the answer."

"As expected, going around the quest..."

"But I'm also going to get rid of their so-called plaga if it does exists according to rumors. During my time in ARCAM, they found evidence of its existence but did no investigation due to lack of evidence to take action."

_Idealistic, but at the same time also willing to play a role in global stability. _

"Well we got a few more minutes 'till we make the drop." Dan told Mark. "Hopefully Martin and company are still alive before we even get there."

One of the flight engineers told the two SHADOW agents that they are nearing their destination.

"Looks like we'll get some action." Mark told Dan.

"Hopefully." Dan had already loaded a 30-round magazine onto his slinged SIG Sport 552 semi-auto compact assault rifle when he pulled the bolt back to load a single 5.56 NATO bullet into the chamber. "Isn't that why we're being deployed?"

"You're on to talk, mate." Mark got ready a Heckler & Koch G36C compact assault rifle, which was outfitted with a carry handle/Bundeswehr dual sights accessory mounted on the upper receiver instead of its picatinny upper receiver.

* * *

><p>El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"MOVE! Scatter!"<p>

That was the signal Leon gave to the group to move out to become less of a target from the villagers as they had access to dynamite. With a few good aims, the villagers could take the _intruders_ before they had a good chance to fight back.

Martin led Diana and the other Center agents, including Fujino, as they moved towards the two-story house nearby via broken window nearby thanks to the dynamite. Thanks to the gunfire the armed men were using back in the tower, most of the attacking villagers were cut down. But it won't be long before help would arrive.

As for Leon, he told Kevin, Jill and Eriko to head through a small barn with another doorway at the back to confuse the villagers before joining Martin in the two-story house. Meanwhile, Cammy and Chun-Li decided to stick together and fight off the villagers by using the house next to the barn in order to confuse them.

"Over there!" Cammy shouted as she led Chun-Li towards the house.

It was only a matter of them before Leon and company would be overwhelmed by the villagers if they didn't do anything to fight in order to survive this day.

* * *

><p>On Center Bell-Boeing CV-22B, en route to El Pueblo, somewhere in Spanish airspace<p>

* * *

><p>"We're arriving at our destination in 3 minutes!" The flight engineer yelled at Dan and Mark. The latter gave his thumbs up while he slinged his G36C.<p>

"Ready?" Mark asked Dan.

"That's an _interesting_ question to ask a fellow SHADOW agent after all, Mark." Dan chuckled. "Of course I am."

"As I am too."

The two agents began to stand up from their seats after being told of their progress.

"Can't wait to exercise out there in the field again."

"Now you're on to talk there, Dan."

"2 minutes!" The flight engineer gave the the two SHADOW agents a time update.

* * *

><p>Tower, El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"Looks like the other people on the ground are having problems battling them."<p>

"You're on to talk Ominae."

"Come on werewolf boy, you think we're the ones responsible for that mess when the villagers tried to attack us and stuff?"

"..."

"Thought so, Jean."

Yu Ominae and Jean Jacquemonde, two ARCAM Spriggan operatives from Japan and France, had been battling against the villagers for some time now before Leon got involved. They fired a Heckler and Koch G3A4 and a Franchi SPAS-12 at the villagers from the safety of the tower.

"So what do we do?" Jean asked Yu as he fired the SPAS-12 down from the tower to distract the villagers while Yu took aim at their heads before he fired the 7.62 NATO-based assault rifle.

"We'll need to fight them from here." Yu told Jean. "But I don't think we can stay here forever. The others down there will need our help."

"Ideas?"

Yu knelt down to reload his assault rifle. "Well don't ya have superhuman strength and all that jazz? I bet that can come in handy right now seeing that the villagers aren't giving up until we're dead."

Jean smirked. "Leave that to me."

The Japanese university student/Spriggan operative watched Jean leap from the floor they're on from the tower. He also noted that Jean was wearing his bomber jacket that had the rank of First Sergeant with a white shirt, olive green BDU pants and black Altama boots. The only thing Yu wore was his Armored Muscle Suit, combat boots, tac vest and a red boxing headgear-type helmet, which was customized to have comms gear including a microphone on the right side of the helmet.

"Great. He's going for that again." Yu sighed as he aimed the newly reloaded assault rifle towards a villager who was about to light up the dynamite in his left hand.

"Not today..." Yu whispered, firing the weapon when they dynamite was lit up. It took out a number of villagers with him. The Japanese operative stopped firing when he watched Jean begin his beatings towards the villagers, starting with using the SPAS-12's folding buttstock as a melee weapon to knock out a villager with a sickle before the Frenchman used either his weapon or his evasion skills to duck and dodge the farming tools meant for his body.

"I just hope nothing's gonna happen this time..." Yu began to sling the G3A4 on his back as he began to use the ladder to get back down on the ground. "In the meantime, better use the distraction for more further distraction."

* * *

><p>Two-Story House, El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"Quickly! Help me barricade the main entrance!"<p>

Leon said as he was being helped by Martin to push a bureau towards the main entrance to block the villagers from getting inside. The windows on the ground floor were barred with wooden planks nailed to block anyone from getting in. Once that was done, he told Java to put another bureau to block the main door while he gathered as much 9mm ammo as possible with some grenades to arm himself. Fujino and Diana were upstairs to scout ahead if it was safe.

_First bullets. And then grenades. What the heck's going on here?_

The ex-SPF officer got upstairs to the second floor by the time he had rearmed himself with enough 9mm bullets, he grabbed the Remington 870 shotgun mounted on the corkboard for display. It had a wooden buttstock and pump action grip.

"I'll be taking this." After checking the shotgun was still working by pumping the weapon three times in rapid fast succession, Leon decided to arm himself with this. _Brings back memories. _"Least this shotgun still works."_  
><em>

"Here." Diana handed a box of shotgun shells. "Thought you might need this since you got that shotgun."

"Thanks, Diana." Leon took the box from here and began to load up the 870 as fast as he can. The barricaded door and windows were doing a good job in keeping the villagers back. But it won't be long before they're able to get inside and kill all of them.

"They're coming!" Fujino told Leon after she scouted the outskirts from the windows overlooking the center of the village and the roof nearby. She saw a few of them preparing to get a ladder ready while a few more villagers on the roof were pounding on the window in order to get it to break.

"I'm loaded!" Leon said after he loaded the last 12 gauge shell into the 870's magazine tube, he pumped the shotgun to load a shell to get it ready.

Diana noted that the villagers were about to raise up the ladder. "They're getting ready to breach the house!"

Leon shouldered the 870 after Diana had given him a warning. _They're really serious about killing us without any second thought._

After the ladder was brought up, the window near the bed was smashed completely.

"They're breaching us!" Leon shouted. Fujino dashed in and pushed the ladder out from the window to prevent the villagers from getting inside. She heard the yells as they went down. _They're down, but not dead._

"Bend." Fujino said softly, destroying the ladder in order to delay them. _It seems that my rehabilitation time in the Center is doing well. I don't need a walking cane anymore after what happened with Shiki-san._

A few minutes, Leon and everyone else hostile to the villagers heard the sound of a chainsaw being revved up.

"Is that a chainsaw?" Martin came up the steps after he heard the chainsaw from downstairs. "'Cause if that is a chainsaw, we're now in big trouble in so many ways."

"Java not liking this at all." Java said, being fearful of the sound.

"Now what?" Leon groaned after he heard the chainsaw being revved up again one more time.

_Great. If we don't do something about this mess we're in, we're all going to die before we can begin the search for Ashley and bring her home._

Chapter 1 END

* * *

><p>PS - Finally I was able to get this through. No thanks to forum RPs, real life and university. I was influenced partially by <strong>Resident Evil: Devil's Crossroads<strong> in doing this fic primarily. Thought it was cool to do another one aside from another fic which had Leon team up with a Predator to take on Los Illuminados. So to you readers out there, are there any RE4/5 fics that has the main protagonist/s team up with other characters to fight against the big bad? If so let me know the title so's I can read them up.

Let me know the first chapter went yeah? Thanks. For details prior to this story, read **Agents** and **The Woman** first before reading this, okay? Thanks. If anyone bothers me on details regarding the story and stuff, I'll probably ignore any messages about it. Also feel free to check out **Being Careful**, a What If story if HUNK was able to secure the G-Virus successfully from Birkin. Another story I got out there is **Crisis**, a story where Sergei decides to deploy Umbrella's security forces to Raccoon City from the events leading to Resident Evil 2 and 3. Has a mix of characters from the games to the novels and the first three RE movies that I don't like, but only decided to get the characters for fic writing purposes.

The flail portrayed here is used for agricultural purposes though.

Also I found out that DSO is the Division of Security Operations and it's canon for RE6, which is the organization Leon works for after RE2.


	2. Under Siege

Resident Evil/Biohazard: Hostage Rescue

Rating: T

NOTE:

All characters of Resident Evil/Captain Commando/Street Fighter are under the copyright of Capcom. All characters of Martin Mystery are under the copyright of Marathon. All characters of Kara no Kyokai are under the copyright of TYPE-MOON. All characters of Spriggan are under the copyright of Hiroshi Takashige and Ryoji Minagawa. All characters of Jiraishin are under the copyright of Tsutomu Takahashi. The appearance of Kenneth "Kenny" Feng is under noctorro's jurisdiction. All others are under my jurisdiction.

Summary:

After Leon and the others are caught by the villagers, they attempt to hold it out by seeking refuge in the various houses before they are killed. Will they be able to make it out alive? Stay tune to this chapter to find out.

Chapter 2: Under Siege

* * *

><p>Near Double Door Barn, El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Kevin, Jill and Eriko got through the double door barn, getting in from the front and back while passing by a cow that simply didn't care about the chaos happening in the Pueblo right now. Despite being in a battle, it seemed the weather was clear. The supposed STARS candidate and now DSO operative didn't expect the inhabitants of an entire village go at him simple because he, Leon and company were asking around.<p>

"I will probably never watch a horror movie ever in my life..." Kevin said, covering Jill and Eriko with his Glock 21 Mariner in order to prevent the villagers from ambushing them. "Not after Raccoon City."

"I share your sentiment there, Kevin." Jill held her Beretta Px4 Type F in a Weaver-type grip.

"We're being cut off!" Eriko shouted, aiming her Sig Sauer P228 at one of the villagers armed with a kitchen knife after a few of them ran after them, passing by the cow. The three of them had their backs facing each other as a few of them were closing in on them.

"Dammit!" Kevin fired the Glock 21 at a villager's left kneecap. It forced him to kneel while grabbing his leg. He moved in to execute a sharp front kick on the villager, being knocked over as he tumbled onto another villager behind him.

Eriko fired her P228 at a knife-armed villager, stunning her by grabbing her nose. Jill rushed in, holstering her sidearm and did a cartwheel. The villager's head was grabbed before Jill used her legs to send the villager down on the ground. This followed with a foot stomp to the head.

The Japanese detective fired her pistol at one more villager, who was about to throw an axe at her when the villager's head exploded.

_What the? _Eriko was startled when it happened.

"That was... interesting." Jill said, seeing the head explode.

"Let's move." Kevin told the other two, moving away from the barn. Jill and Eriko nodded, following Kevin.

* * *

><p>Two-Story House, El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"What do we do?" Diana asked Leon as the barricade downstairs was breaking apart, coupled with the chainsaw being handled outside.<p>

Leon tried to ponder their situation in less than a minute. On one hand, they could stay here inside for a few more minute. On the other hand, it won't be long before that chainsaw-wielding villager would bust in and cut them up. Something Leon and the others don't want to experience.

"Can you barricade that window?" Leon asked Java and pointed the broken window near the bed.

"Java can do it." Java grabbed the bureau with the case that had its glass busted after Leon broke it. The Center agent and caveman brought the bureau to the broken window and brought it down from his muscular arms in front of it to prevent access to the second floor.

"¿Qué carajos estás haciendo aquí? ¡Lárgate, cabrón!" The ex-SPF officer and the Center agents heard the villagers shouting at them, as if they were being taunted.

Suddenly, the only window not barricaded in the second floor was smashed open.

"Behind us!" Martin said, getting his I-Cutter ready.

Leon shouldered the Remington 870, which was already loaded. He aimed the Police Model's 24/7 Express Shotgun Sights at the villagers trying to climb through the window before the shotgun's trigger was pulled. Diana, Martin, Fujino and Java covered their ears as they were close to him.

"We need to move!" Leon advised the Center agents. "Staying here is too risky!" He moved in at the window, blasting the villagers with buckshot rounds to clear the way. Once it was okay to get out, he gestured to Martin that it was safe to do so.

As Martin assisted Diana and Fujino to get out, Leon and Java heard the door downstairs was busted thanks to the chainsaw.

"Dammit." Leon hissed as Martin and Java got out of the room, the Center agents jumping down to the ground since it was safe to do so without the risk of breaking their legs. Leon followed, taking some shotgun shell boxes with him as it was his main weapon right now.

* * *

><p>Near Fire, El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Jean had aimed his Franchi SPAS-12 at the villager who had a potato sack worn over his head with eyeholes on it, armed with a chainsaw. The French Spriggan operative fired the assault shotgun at him in close range, only knocking him down but killing off a few villagers near him.<p>

Yu was in support of Jean with his Armored Muscle Suit activated while firing his HK G3A4 assault rifle. A villager had tried to stab him with the sickle on his stomach. Unfortunately for her, the sickle blade didn't pierce his Orihalcon-made suit and instead, Yu whacked her with the German-made rifle's collapsible buttstock to send her on the ground. Thanks to his lycanthrope origins, Jean used his superhuman strength and speed to execute the coup de grâce on any downed villagers hit by the buckshots when they were downed.

"Take this!" shouted the Japanese Spriggan operative, doing a foot stomp on his own. The villager's head exploded as the stomp occurred.

"What's with this place?" Yu murmured, shouldering the G3A4.

"What are you doing Ominae?" Jean shouted, firing his SPAS-12 at the chainsaw-wielding man known as Doctor Salvador to the locals before dashing back to a great distance to avoid being killed by the chainsaw. It instead killed off a villager standing nearby by slicing him horizontally at the neck.

"Nothing." Yu replied, aiming the assault rifle's iron sights.

* * *

><p>On Center Bell-Boeing CV-22B, en route to El Pueblo, somewhere in Spanish airspace<p>

* * *

><p>"1 more minute, guys!"<p>

Dan and Mark nodded at the flight engineer as they were closing in on their destination. The Village where Leon and the company were now battling the villagers intent on killing them for good.

"Ready?" Dan asked Mark after installing an Aimpoint red dot sight on the picatinny receiver of his SIG Sport 552.

"You bet I am." Mark grinned. He had his beret worn over his balaclava-clad head before the two exchanged fistbumps with each other. "But I got a question? Do we HALO or HAHO to the area?"

"I..." The Malaysian Chinese SHADOW agent thought about his comrade. "I kinda forgot."

Mark sighed.

_Isn't this great?_

* * *

><p>House, next to Double Door Barn, El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Cammy and Chun-Li have been inside the house by the main entrance, barricading the main entrance after dealing with a couple of pitchfork-armed villagers by using their kicks while aimed to quiet them down permanently after hitting their temples.<p>

"Barricaded the place." Cammy said, pointing to the bureaus placed in front of the main door with her right thumb. "They won't be bothering up for a while."

"Just to be safe." Chun-Li advised the Delta Red operative. "Let's go and check the next room."

"Of course." Cammy nodded, allowing Chun-Li to lead the way. As the two stacked up near the door, they heard glass breaking from the next room.

_What's that? _Chun-Li frowned as she slowly opened the door. It was a bedroom.

With some unwanted visitors to boot.

"Look out!" Chun-Li shouted, seeing a villager lunging at Cammy with a kitchen knife. Chun-Li grabbed the knife-wielding hand and twisted it to let the villager drop it. She then decided to use her spike bracelet to strike at the villager's left temple.

_Nicely done..._

Cammy watched Chun-Li used her spike bracelet pierce the villager's left temple. She went for the second villager already inside the room. Due to a lack of space, the blonde woman went for a Axle Spin Knuckle. The second villager was hit in the face and was downed.

"Damn this lack of space." Cammy muttered. She and Chun-Li were on their guard when the second villager got up. Cammy went for a foot sweep to knock him down once again before Chun-Li finished him off with an axe kick.

* * *

><p>Near Two-Story House, El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Martin and Fujino engaged the villagers by using their I-Cutters to disarm them of weapons before going for an attack on their heads after seeing Leon kill them by firing his 870, blowing some of their heads away. Java was on hand to provide the muscle by finishing off any downed villager who was not killed by his feet.<p>

"ERAH!" Java shouted as he stepped on their heads, seeing them shout in pain before they die and melt off.

Diana, on the other hand, used Martin's X-Rod and made it to a quarterstaff. She went to disarming the villagers first before using the staff to attack them before Leon fired the shotgun at them.

"Don't these guys..." Diana felt fatigue getting to her body. "know when to quit it?"

"Afraid they don't give up!" Leon said, shouldering the shotgun after he had reloaded it to full capacity with 8 rounds inside the magazine tube. He fired it to kill off a few villagers.

Jean and Yu were positioned close to them, getting away from Dr. Salvador after he was fired upon by 7.62 NATO bullets and buckshots.

"He doesn't give up!" Jean shouted, reloading his SPAS-12. Yu did the same thing to his G3A4 while Dr. Salvador was closing him.

Leon fired the shotgun at Dr. Salvador's legs, getting him to kneel.

A few minutes later, Cammy and Chun-Li were near the two Spriggans after they got out of the house next to the double door barn.

"It's only him now!" Chun-Li told Cammy, seeing that most of the villagers were killed off except the potato sack-wearing man. She rushed in towards the kneeling Dr. Salvador, feeling some temporary pain over being shot in the legs from Leon's shotgun blast.

"Here goes!" The INTERPOL officer was now near the kneeling mad doctor. "Tenshokyaku!" She began to execute several diagonal kicks at Dr. Salvador into the air even though he still held onto his chainsaw. When he was downed, Chun-Li followed her Tenshokyaku with the Yoso Kyaku to strike the downed doctor at his forehead. She did this with emphasis on striking Dr. Salvador's forehead very hard.

Kevin, Jill and Eriko were heading to the fire pit after they dispatched the villagers themselves in time to see Cammy go for her CQC aka Cammy's Quick Combination, a series of CQC attacks she developed after her indoctrination into Delta Red.

"Here's a present for you." Cammy taunted Dr. Salvador after he raised the chainsaw at her since she was in front of him. Instead, she went for the offensive by getting on his shoulders and snapping his neck. "Easy." She said in a cold tone.

The doctor felt darkness clouding his vision before Cammy took him down and snapped his right arm. Afterwards, she grabbed his neck and twisted it again before she uttered, "It's all over."

* * *

><p>On Center Bell-Boeing CV-22B, en route to El Pueblo, somewhere in Spanish airspace<p>

* * *

><p>"We've arrived!" The flight engineer told the SHADOW agents, now over the village as the CV-22B's ramp was lowered. One of the engineers quickly moved in towards the mounted M240 GPMG on the loading ramp as Leon saw another horde of villagers moving in with weapons at the ready. A piece of lit dynamite was chucked near him, detonating without harming and the others.<p>

"GO! GO! GO!" The engineer shouted, firing the M240 at the advancing villagers as Dan and Mark rappelled down the CV-22B. The latter was the first to touch down on the ground, gesturing to the engineer that he and Dan made it safely. After the two exchanged salutes, the rappel ropes was removed from the tiltrotor as it retreated.

As the tiltrotor retreated, the surviving villagers stopped from whatever they were doing and left Leon and the others alone, moving towards the local church with the metal door before the last man closed the door behind and locked it up.

* * *

><p>Somewhere on church, outskirts of El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>An Asian woman wearing a red dress and high heel shoes grinned when the bells were ringing for the past minute or so. The 30-year old woman got a hold of her smartphone after she noted that someone was calling her.<p>

**"I would take it that ringing the bell worked, Ada?" **A blonde man with his face concealed in shades asked Ada on her status when she answered the call.

**"It did work. That ought to keep them busy for a little longer, Wesker." **Ada Wong told Albert Wesker on the other line. **"But there is something I should add."**

**"Oh?" **Wesker was a bit interested in what Ada had to say.

**"In addition to the Secret Service, it seems that Delta Red, INTERPOL and the Japanese National Police Agency are involved in the mix."**_ Better keep Leon's presence out for now.  
><em>

**"I see. That may complicate things later on." **Wesker replied. **"But right now, I got word that the ARCAM Corporation and the Center are also involved with Los Illuminados and the hunt for their parasite."**

**"I understand the ARCAM Corporation if they want to destroy anything dangerous from old civilizations like the Noah's Ark in Turkey, but the Center?" **Ada was confused. **"I thought they were an anti-alien and paranormal secret agency."**

**"It seems that the Center's gotten on the anti-B.O.W. hunt after Raccoon City." **Wesker answered Ada. **"Given that they now have an anti-terrorist capability from the 1990s. Regardless, you need to treat everyone involved in the investigation as dangerous."**

**"Dangerous?" **Ada was confused as to what Wesker meant when he said the d word.

**"We've got Raccoon City survivors, Street Fighters, teenage paranormal detective brats, a detective from the NPA, Spriggan operatives fighting to get to the parasite and dispose of them as ancient B.O.W.s and a couple of this so-called SHADOW agents deployed to conduct a black operation in Spain." **Wesker explained to Ada the people involved. **"I'll send you data on the personnel to give you a better understanding on the situation."**

**"Much obliged, Wesker."**

**"Don't forget that you will need to meet Kenneth later. I hope you didn't forget that he's your contact between him and Los Illuminados."**

Ada grinned. **"Of course not."  
><strong>

* * *

><p>Near Fire Pit, El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Dan and Mark exchanged greetings with Martin and the others. Java gave the two a big hug that they told him to put them down. Leon and Kevin noted that the villagers went away.<p>

"They went bingo?" Leon sighed, raising his arms in frustration.

"You tell me." Kevin replied.

"Java very sorry." The caveman placed the two SHADOW agents down, not seeing Leon and Kevin's frustrations.

"Quite alright." Mark told Java.

"So who are you two?" Cammy asked Dan and Mark, seeing that they were wearing camo uniforms and all.

"We're from the Center." Dan told Cammy. "Specifically, the SHADOW division."

Cammy and Chun-Li were a bit alarmed since SHADOW reminded them of Shadowlaw.

"Specialist Hazard Agent Designated Operations Wing." Mark explained. "We do things that either the Center doesn't want to do that the underworld will catch on..." He then pointed to Martin and the other Center agents with his left index finger. "or we assist them by being their muscle."

_Next time I'll get a sign and point to people about it..._

"That's quite a mouthful." Kevin commented. "But quite interesting nevertheless."

"Since the villagers aren't coming back," Martin told Leon. "how's about some of us search the place and see what we can get?"

"Good idea." Leon told Martin. "Let's go everyone!"

Later, most of the group have begun to split up in order to look around the village leaving Dan and Mark behind.

"So what now?" Dan asked as he watched Mark tossed the rappel ropes into the fire pit thanks to the artificial muscles on his Armored Machine Suit.

"We'll see."

A few minutes later, a woman in her 20s wearing a beret, a black waterproof jacket with hood and hiking boots arrived in the village. She was followed by another person dressed in camos with a tac vest on and a beret over his balaclava-clad head.

"It seems reinforcements had arrived in time."

* * *

><p>Inside Village Chief's House, outskirts of El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"I see that you're eager to see me if you're waiting for me here, Kenny." Ada greeted the Chinese-Japanese national with a smile.<p>

"Whatever." Kenneth "Kenny" Feng rolled his eyes when he saw Ada. He was dressed up in a black windbreaker, BDU pants, Altama boots and gloves for this mission with Krauser and a few others. "I was told by Wesker regarding the people involved in the matter."

"Indeed." Ada replied. "It seems the Japanese National Police Agency, INTERPOL, Delta Red, the Center and the ARCAM Corporation are here in Spain, but for different reasons. But enough on that, how are things with Krauser?"

"Not sure." Kenny answered. "Saddler's keeping his distance from Krauser and company, aside from being ready 24/7 for any intruders if they'll come for Ashley Graham."

Ada pondered on what Kenny told her. "Alright. For now, just get back to Krauser. I'll take care of things down here?"

"Right. And I'll cover your presence here. Apparently, the villagers treat me like an ally around these parts."

* * *

><p>Near Fire Pit, El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"Who is she?" Diana saw Tea speaking to Mark. "And him?" She pointed to the masked, armed person next to her.<p>

"They're with us." Yu told Diana. "ARCAM got us deployed as a four-man team. We got a bit separated."

"Separated my ass!" The beret-clad person shouted at Yu.

"Right..." Yu said, pretending not to hear what he said.

"I'm Tea Flatte by the way." The British Spriggan introduced herself. "A pleasure."

"What did you guys find?" Dan asked as the others regrouped back at the fire pit.

"Found this too." Martin showed Tea a ruby with some Spinels. "Got it from that guy wearing a potato sack on his head..."

Tea swiftly took it from Martin. "I'll hold onto this."

"No worries, Martin." Yu tried to assure him. "I trust her with my life, so it should be okay."

"And don't worry on him." Mark told the others regarding the beret-clad person with Tea. "He's my brother." He moved and clasped him on his right shoulder. "Good to see you, Michael." Mark whispered to avoid giving his real name away.

"Same here too." Michael said, patting him on the left shoulder.

This revelation raised some eyebrows from Jill, Cammy, Chun-Li and Eriko.

"Take a look at this." Fujino showed the group a folder. "I found this during my search of one of the houses..."

* * *

><p>Inside Village Chief's House, outskirts of El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Ada checked up on her smartphone and saw an update from Wesker on the various people reported to be deployed in Spain.<p>

_How interesting. _The Chinese-American spy went over the data provided by Wesker. She began to walk around the room as she checked with the personnel bios.

"Leon Kennedy and Kevin Ryman." She murmured, reading the data. "Ex-RPD SPF officers before they were posted with DSO." Ada smirked. "Nice to see a familiar face." She then moved on to read up on Cammy and Chun-Li's data. "The former's got ties with Shadowlaw before she got amnesia with her recruitment to Delta Red? Quite the story. And Ms. Chun-Li's here as an INTERPOL officer."

Ada continued to read up more when she read up on the Spriggans. "Yu Ominae, Jean Jacquemonde and Tea Flatte. Some of ARCAM's finest are here. Better be careful with them around" She then checked the data on the Center agents sent to Spain. "Martin Mystery and Diana Lombard, stepchildren of Doctor Mystery." Ada frowned when she got a read on Java's data. "A caveman? Something must be wrong."

The spy was confused on Java's data when she decided to check up on the bios of two more people.

"These two are twins." Ada read up on the data with Mark and Michael after seeing that Dan had nothing interesting aside from being one of the Center's earliest SHADOW agents from Malaysia. She had noted that the two had worked with the ARCAM Corporation before the former went back to accept his SHADOW position with the Center.

"COSMOS?" Ada also read up on the twin's past while seeing their photos at a young age decked in olive green BDUs and red berets and wielding HK MP5SD5 submachine guns. "I never expected this..." _Krauser must have handed this data to Wesker since he used to be the unit's knife combat instructor._

Ada read up on the full meaning of COSMOS. "COSMOS. Children Of Soldiers Machine Organic System."

* * *

><p>Near Fire Pit, El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Diana showed the group surveillance photos of them when they weren't in operations.<p>

"How the hell..." Martin was surprised to see a photo of him, Diana and Java somewhere in the downtown core of Montreal.

"This ain't right." Leon saw a photo of him walking down the streets of Washington while Kevin saw his photo taken from somewhere in Miami, eating lunch at a Cuban restaurant.

"Were they expecting us or something?" Chun-Li whispered, seeing a photo of her fighting in the SIN-sponsored Street Fighter tournament.

"It is possible." Cammy got a photo of her petting a child in London. "The cult probably had moles in our organizations to get photos of us while we weren't looking."

Jill and Fujno saw photos of themselves talking somewhere inside the anti-paranormal agency's headquarters. "How were they able to get photos of us?" Fujino wondered, surprised to see the photo in the folder Diana got.

"I'm not liking this at all." Jill said, looking at the photo with Fujino.

"I do not believe this." Eriko saw a photo of herself talking to a fellow plainclothes officer somewhere in the Shinjuku station. "Our presence is already compromised."

Jean was pissed when he saw a photo of himself in Paris. "These bastards will pay!"

"I agree with you, Jean." Yu was furious when he saw a photo of himself walking towards his university.

"It seems that we cannot underestimate our opponents." Tea commented, seeing a photo of her in the main lobby of ARCAM's Philippine branch.

"Dammit!" Dan was angry to see photos of him in downtown Kuala Lumpur. "We need to inform MOM on this! The cult must have moles on their payroll!"

Mark took the folder from Diana, covertly taking the photos of him and his twin brother Michael in high school uniform back in the Philippines before keeping it in his vest. _Can't compromise our presence. _

"Look at this." Mark got a piece of documents. "It's in Spanish."

"Let me have a look." Eriko read the documents. "According to this, it says that Ashley Graham's being held captive in some church located from the outskirts of this village. In addition, it's also warning everyone here that they need to neutralize us since they don't know who was responsible for our deployment aside from the American government."

"Then that's where we'll go to next." Leon said after hearing Eriko read the document.

**"Agents, do you read me?" **

The O-Watch of Mark beeped to life, revealing MOM's holographic image.

**"Loud and clear." **Mark reported. **"We were attacked by the villagers before a local church bell made them all stop. And get this, we found photos of us taken in surveillance ops."**

**"Interesting." **MOM replied. **"Considering that I didn't authorize them, I fear that Los Illuminados may have had moles in our organizations in order to take action when you guys are around the area."  
><strong>

**"I say we burn them all!" **Dan shouted at MOM. **"We're compromised already and we ought to destroy them before the others find out about us..."**

**"Agreed. I can't let the cult fully realize that SHADOW agents are in the countryside. Please destroy those photos immediately."**

**"Understood." **Dan took the photos from everyone else and threw them in the fire pit. "Better be safe than sorry." Leon tossed the written order into the fire pit as well.

**"Pardon me, MOM." **Martin spoke to MOM next. **"But did either you or Billy try to contact me with my U-Watch a while ago?"**

MOM frowned at this. **"I don't recall doing that. Must have been a technical problem with communications. But I did hope that you used the silent function to prevent yourself from being detected."**

**"ON IT!" **Martin quickly got his U-Watch in silent mode.

**"Excuse me." **Fujino told MOM. **"We're about to go and rescue Ashley Graham from the cult's custody before we investigate the cult."**

**"All right. Go ahead. Meanwhile, radio silence from here on end until we contact you. Be careful out there. Understood?"**

**"Right!" **Mark, Dan, Fujino and Martin replied in unison before the holographic image faded from Mark's O-Watch.

"Nice toys you got there." Kevin grinned, patting Dan's right shoulder. "Does she have one of those?" He asked, using his left thumb to refer to Jill.

"Nah. Heard she's assigned with us temporarily."

"Well, we better move." Leon told the others. "There's a trail near the tower leading to a gate up ahead."

"Let's go." Jill said, walking ahead.

"By the way," Chun-Li looked at the masked persons walking with them. "we didn't get your names."

"I'm Hien. Codename by the way." "Hien" replied. "My brother's codename is Hiryu, so I'm sure some of you are familiar with him." He pointed to Dan. "His name's Daniel Lee from Malaysia, but call him Dan."

"Well it's nice to see you again." Cammy greeted Mark.

"And I know the rest of ya, so don't worry on introductions yeah?"

"Yo." Dan gave everyone a two-finger salute.

"Yeah, glad to see you too." "Hiryu" sighed, porting his G36C. He stared at his brother, wearing the ARCAM Corporation Special Private Army beret over his balaclava-clad head like him. However, Hien chose to wear the Swiss TAZ 90 Woodland camo, vest and holster. The masked Spriggan had an Armored Muscle Suit underneath the BDU while porting a Pindad SS1-M5 Commando compact assault rifle with a mounted red dot sight on the picatinny receiver.

_Haven't seen him around. _Chun-Li thought after hearing the codename. She hasn't seen him ever since Britain.

Java opened the gate gently, peeking out to see if any villagers were around. Leon aimed the Silver Ghost ahead to check first. He gestured to the others to move in carefully as there are some villagers inside.

* * *

><p>Farm Area, El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Leon and Kevin scout ahead by checking the barns and all to see if there were people ahead.<p>

"Hostile villagers." Kevin warned the group. "They don't seem to know we're here..."

"Good." Yu drew out his Orihalcon-made combat knife. "Then all the more reason we should keep it that way." He faced the group. "Anyone with knives, let's go and keep it quiet."

Jill saw that the balaclava-clad brothers, Dan and Fujino got their own knives. She saw that Hiryu drew out a Fairbarn-Sykes commando knife with an Orihalcon blade from a knife sheath on his vest while Hien got out a Strider MARSOC SMF folding knife with an Orihalcon blade as well from his BDU pants pocket. Dan got out his Eickhorn-Solingen KM2000 combat knife from a sheath placed on his back via web belt. Fujino used her O-Watch to get her I-Cutter out. The knifes were held in a reverse grip.

Leon was about to unsling his 870 from his right shoulder in order to shoulder the shotgun's buttstock when Jean motioned to the ex-SPF officer to stop.

"Just watch them. It's not those two are masters of stealth for nothing." Jean explained to Jill, Chun-Li and Cammy as they watched Yu, Dan and Fujino enter the other houses, including the two-story barn while the brothers were seen approaching the cow stable.

"What the?" Chun-Li saw that a villager with a pitchfork was challenging the duo. Instead, one of them took him by surprise by kicking the back of his knees to make him kneel. The other brother proceeded to deal with the other villager by plunging the blade of his Fairbarn-Sykes knife onto his forehead.

"I don't believe it." Jill whispered, seeing the villager drop dead.

"See?" Jean grinned. "That's why us Spriggans are S-Class in ARCAM."

Minute later, Yu emerged out from the barn and signaled that it was okay.

"Looks like these guys come in handy." Leon smirked.

"Since it's all clear..." Martin told Leon. "Why don't we check the place and see if we can collect anything useful?"

"Works for me." Kevin said, shrugging his shoulders. "Come on Martin. Let's you and me explore a bit..."

"Everyone else, let's head to the two-story barn." Leon told the others, pointing to the barn as Yu and Fujino were standing outside.

* * *

><p>Control Room, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Octavia had just told Krauser and the others that she had something planned up. In terms of using one of her assets to fight Leon and the others.<p>

"So about this... thing." Krauser asked the CIHL head. "Are you absolutely sure it'll work?"

"Of course I am, my dear Krauser." Octavia said with confidence. "I'm planning to use that monster I created through bio modification."

"Bio modification?" Geki was confused.

"I'm lost there." Kei said, scratching the back of her head.

"You guys aren't the only ones." Krauser mumbled, hearing the term for the first time in his life.

"Allow me to explain." Octavia replied. "It's the process of the creation of new life by taking the characteristics of one creature and another to create one super being."

"Now that makes some sense." Krauser grinned. "So is it here yet?"

"As we speak, it should be brought here. I can't wait to see how it'll work once the Plaga bonds with it."

* * *

><p>Farm Area, El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"All clear." Fujino greeted Leon as he approached the barn.<p>

"Same here." Dan, Hiryu and Hien ran up to the barn. "Only found some pesetas."

All of their combat knives were stored away, knowing that the villagers in the area were already dead by their hands.

"And I got this." Martin showed everyone the Pearl Pendant he got. "Found it above the well, but Kevin was kind enough to help me get this."

"After I had to make sure the well as covered." Kevin told everyone. "Sheesh, it's like these people don't care about hygiene these days."

"I got this too." Yu showed everyone the Beerstein. "Has some sockets to hold up gemstones or something..."

"I'll hold onto them as keepsakes until we find out what to do with them." Tea told the two.

"When she says she'll do it, she'll do it." Hiryu advised Martin.

Yu handed the Beerstein while Martin reluctantly gave the Pearl Pendant.

"I don't know how long can I hold up this much pesetas to be honest." Diana showed them a small pouch she had in her hands taken from a house in the villager earlier.

"There's another gate up ahead near the barn." Cammy pointed to the gate to the others.

"You guys know the drill." Leon aimed the Silver Ghost and Kevin brought out his Glock 21 Mariner, both pistols aimed at the gate by the barn as the norther one was barricaded.

"Right." Anyone else with firearms kept an eye on the rear to ensure it was fine.

"Your turn, big man." Dan told Java, shouldering the SIG Sport 552.

"Java do it." Java used his caveman strength to push the gates with his hands.

"Amazing." Chun-Li said, seeing Java do his work. "Haven't seen someone do that in my line of work."

"When it's Java out there, he can do anything." Martin boasted on Java.

"Except hold a gun." Hiryu reminded Martin. "You guys go ahead. We'll hold around here case there's trouble."

* * *

><p>Outside Control Room, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Krauser was outside the control room when he met with Kenneth, who was waiting for the ex-airborne infantryman to get out.<p>

_Good thing the island's location is just near the mainland so Kenny boy can just go from here to there and vice versa without any much problems._

"So what can I do for you, little man?" Krauser questioned Kenneth.

"I already spoke to Ada." This comment raised Krauser's curiosity. "And it seems that the American government is not the only ones involved in trying to secure the First Daughter."

"You mean other organizations are here too?"

Kenneth nodded. "Wesker gave me data on those people. We've got people from Delta Red, INTERPOL, the Japanese National Police Agency, ARCAM Corporation and the Center." He showed the muscular man the profiles of Yu and the twins to Krauser.

"Well what do you know?" Krauser grinned after seeing their pictures. "Some familiar faces aside from him. That's nice."

_Does he know Leon back from Raccoon City?_

"What are you talking about there, Krauser?"

"Three of those people involved against the cult are from the time I've spent in COSMOS. I was their knife and CQC instructor back when I was plucked from the 82nd Division to COSMOS due to lack of experienced personnel at the time."

_COSMOS? _Kenneth, like Ada, feared COSMOS due to the fact that it had used brainwashed children from around the world to conduct black operations during the Cold War before an underground conglomerate of weapon manufacturers called the Trident Corporation took control of the group. "Last I heard, the American government and Trident waged war to get COSMOS back under US Army control after what happened in the South Pole."

"All of that's in the past now..." Krauser told Kenneth. "As for now, go see if you can dig up anything useful where Saddler keeps the Plaga sample. At least he ordered the villagers and all not to attack us since we're his allies."

Kenneth sighs. "Yeah, yeah I know. I'll go see if I can help Ada..."

* * *

><p>On Trail, outskirts of El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"All clear..."<p>

Leon told the others when he and Kevin checked everywhere to make sure no one was waiting for them. The others went through the gate before Java closed it behind them.

"It's too quiet." Martin said, checking the area before he noted the cliff beside them. "Something's going to happen."

"Martin." Diana glared at him. "It's all right. I'm pretty sure we're safe around this place." The group began to walk down away from the gate as they followed the trail down.

"I just hope you're right." Jean said, porting the SPAS-12.

_So far, so good_. Jill said to herself, looking around the Spanish countryside. If it weren't for the mission to eliminate Los Illuminados for being a threat to global stability, the ex-STARS operative would surely enjoy walking around the countryside.

Until they something big and heavy land behind them.

"Is that..." Hien turned around to see a huge boulder coming at them. "HOLY SHIT! A BOULDER!"

"EVERYONE RUN AND DON'T STOP!" Leon shouted, being the first to run.

"I TOLD YOU SO, DI!" Martin shouted as well to Diana after he began to run as fast as he can alongside Leon.

The entire group began to run, putting everything they got to their legs.

"Dammit! I hate it when this happens!" Hiryu shouted, running even more faster than Leon thanks to his Armored Machine Suit.

"Hey wait up!" Yu and Hien shouted, speeding up a bit to catch up thanks to their Armored Muscle Suits.

"Whatever those kids ate!" Kevin yelled with Leon next to him. "I want some of that as well too!"

"EVERYONE! ON THE COUNT OF THREE, THERE'S A DITCH WE CAN USE TO JUMP!" Cammy yelled. "ONE, TWO..."

"THREE!" Chun-Li shouted, being the first to jump in the ditch. Everyone else followed before the boulder crashed somewhere and was destroyed.

"Is everyone alright?" Eriko asked after she checked herself for any kinds of wounds.

"Fine." Fujino replied.

"All clear." Yu added.

"I hate the ones who did that trap." Jean commented.

"A tunnel." Hiryu aimed the G36C at the entrance. He gestured to Hien to do the same, who nodded in response as he aimed his SS1-M5 at the tunnel.

Tea and Yu helped the others get up from the ditch while the twins stacked up against the tunnel entrance before aiming inside to check for hostiles.

"Clear!"

"Clear!"

"Least we can walk safely." Leon commented as he walked inside the tunnel with the others.

"Something's shining." Jill said, pointing to the ceiling.

"Allow me." Tea concentrated and in minutes, Spinels fell down to the ground.

"Here you go, sis." Hiryu and Hien picked up the Spinels and tossed them to Tea.

"Are you a real psychic?" Martin was amazed by Tea's powers. "Because that is so AMAZING!"

"That's not the only trick that I can do." Tea grinned at Martin.

The group continued down the tunnel without any hostile encounter.

* * *

><p>Inside Village Chief's House, outskirts of El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Ada had been reading a book regarding the history of Los Illuminados when her smartphone was receiving a call from Wesker.<p>

**"Ah, there you are." **The mysterious man spoke to Ada. **"There has been an irregularity."**

**"What about it?" **Ada answered.

**"The researcher we've planted was discovered by the Illuminados." **Wesker said calmly like it didn't bother him at all.**  
><strong>

**"You must be talking about that vagrant Spaniard." **Ada raised an eyebrow.** "So where is he now?"**

Wesker nodded. **"He's held captive in an abandoned house located northeast of the village. Until he recovers the sample, we can't let him die." **The shades-wearing man shook his head left and right for emphasis.

_Didn't know that Wesker actually cared. _**"You don't need to remind me."**

**"I'm bringing Kenneth back to your location to help you around. As we speak, he should be heading back to the mainland."**

**"I got that part." **Ada glared at her smartphone after she ended the call.

"Luis Sera." The Chinese-American sighed, rolling her eyes after putting the phone away. "And I thought I was high maintenance."

_I better look for Kenneth soon. _She replaced the book on Los Illuminados back on the bookstore. _Least I got some Spanish to understand the cult's history._

* * *

><p>Near Abandoned Houses, outskirts of El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"Another one." Java pointed to the sign with the skulls on one.<p>

"I guess this village really is xenophobic." Jill said, holding her Px4 at the ready.

"Probably since they're already out to kill us." Leon agreed with Jill, porting the 870. He saw a couple of houses ahead with one of the side. "Again, it seems clear."

"This part seems to be too easy." Yu sighed. "Not that I want any opposition." He had previously unslinged his G3A4 in wary of more armed villagers.

"Where do we start?" Fujino asked the group if they had some ideas.

"I hope you guys had your weapons reloaded." Hiryu told the group, aiming his assault rifle at one of the houses.

"It seems we already have some visitors." Tea said as if she was reading the future.

_That's what terrifies me about her. _Hien sighed. _Sis is like some seer from the future who knows what's going to happen, as if we're in a videogame or something._

As the group advanced towards one of the houses, a dynamite was hurled towards them.

"WAIT!" Leon told the group to stop as the dynamite exploded nearby without hurting any of them.

"TAKE COVER!" Hiryu shouted, getting prone before he aimed the G36C's reflex red dot sight at one of the dynamite-wielding villagers after the rifle's fire selector was switched to fire on two rounds mode under the 2-round burst trigger group. Yu joined him to fire his G3A4 on full auto mode. They struck down one the villagers who had the unfortunate luck to have his forehead exposed. A second later, an explosion was heard from inside the house followed by someone groaning.

"I got grenades!" Leon passed frag and incendiary grenades to Jill and Kevin while Eriko joined in the fight by firing her P228. Hien assisted her by firing his SS1-M5 at 3-round burst mode to conduct suppressive fire.

Jill chucked a primed frag grenade, which was a Spanish-made Instalaza Alhambra at another dynamite stick-wielding villager while Eriko and Hien distracted him with their weapons. As the grenade landed next to the villager, it exploded and killed him. The dynamite in his hand blew up, destroying his body in the process. Kevin had chucked in a British-made Haley and Weller E-108 incendiary grenade at the same time when Jill threw her frag grenade. Not that it mattered anyway as the villager wasn't burned to death.

Another dynamite-wielding villager came out of the first house, wielding a stick of lit dynamite. Kevin threw a primed Royal Ordnance GP60 stun grenade at him.

"COVER YOUR EYES!" Kevin warned the others before the device exploded. When the villager was blinded, the dynamite exploded in his hands.

* * *

><p>Farm Area, El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Ada ran as hard as possible from the village chief's house, already armed with a 4 inch Springfield Armory XD pistol Service Model with a black finish. It wasn't helpful that her high heels were slowly getting in the way of her mobility.<p>

_Please be alive Leon!_

Despite this problem, the spy did not allow it to get in her way of her running. She found the gate Leon and company had used to get to the abandoned houses and began to push it.

Ada did not have Java's caveman strength to open it with ease, but she was determined to also get her job done.

* * *

><p>Near Abandoned Houses, outskirts of El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"Clear!"<p>

Jill shouted after she noted that there was no further hostile activity. Leon and Kevin were away checking the first house to see if it was cleared as well of hostile.

"All clear." Leon said after he exited the house. "Aside from getting some money."

"Let's go check the other house." Yu pointed to the second house nearby. The others nodded in agreement before they scoured the front to see if any traps or hostile villagers were near. While checking the grass for a dead body or two, the group only found pesetas. The task fell to Diana to collect them and place it in a pouch.

"A bird's nest?" Martin was surprised to see it on a tree, considering what was going on with the villagers.

"Something?" Dan asked Martin, looking at the nest.

Martin nodded. "Usually people hide stuff there as a way to get attention of them. Or at least what I've read in spy books."

"I'll get it." Hiryu said as he activated his O-Watch to use the Turbo Bungee to make the grappling hook secured on a tree branch before he began to climb on it. After doing so, the masked SHADOW agent was able to secure a Red Catsye from it.

_Gotcha. _Hiryu pocketed the Red Catsye before he got down on the ground.

"Sis!" He passed in onto Tea, who looked at it with great curiosity.

"Interesting." Tea commented. "This should fit nicely on the Beerstein you guys found a while ago."

"Over here!" Eriko shouted, pointed to the metal lock on the door she found. "It's locked. There's probably someone or something of great value inside this place."

"I could try to pick the lock." Jill was about to examine the lock when Fujino raised a hand at her, motioning at her to stop.

"I will handle this, Jill-san." The Reien Girls high school student told Jill aka the Master of Unlocking. The purple-haired girl stared at the lock with her full attention. Seconds later, the lock was twisted around until it was broken without any hands involved.

"Sweet." Kevin whistled, seeing Fujino's handiwork. "We could use someone like her in DSO."

"Least we can get in." Leon gently opened the door, peeking inside before telling the others that it was clear.

* * *

><p>Inside Abandoned House, outskirts of El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"Clear!"<p>

"Clear!"

Leon and Kevin aimed their sidearms around the place. It looked clear. Again, this bothered a few people. Diana checked the cabinet and saw a few more pesetas she can take.

"I wish we can take this time to friggin' reload our weapons again." Kevin muttered, lowering his sidearm.

Hien motioned to Yu and Jean in the hallway.

"Hold it guys. We got an IED." Jean warned everyone.

"IED?" Eriko asked, not knowing the term of before.

"Improvised Explosive Device." Cammy told the detective.

"Let's go and disarm them." Yu and Jean went to the hallway, the former taking out his combat knife to cut the tripwire.

"It seems they're pulling out all the stops here to prevent us from finding out what's inside." Chun-Li sighed. Martin, Diana and Java checked on the hallway to see that Yu was working on the second tripwire.

"Disarmed!" Jean shouted, checking the bombs on the hallway walls after he used his werewolf strength to snap off the wire without yanking the explosives on the wall.

"Disarmed here!" Yu shouted, putting away his combat knife after he carefully sliced the wire into two.

"This isn't right..." Jill checked the bombs. "Looks like C4 and they're made to detonate if someone walks over them."

"This means one thing." Hiryu frowned after he heard what Jill had said. "Someone with military experience's working with the other side."

Leon and Kevin once again checked the room at the other end, seeing that it was clear once more.

"Where's the valued person or item the cult's hiding?" Martin said when he got in the room. "Again, this is too easy... I can feel the suspense in my veins."

"Use your head Martin." Diana scolded her stepbrother once more. "I don't think they'll just leave it in the open. They probably hid the person or thing by putting something else in front of it."

"Check everything." Chun-Li advised. "That also includes the floor. There could be a trapdoor or a secret passage hidden in plain sight."

As the group began to look around, Tea stared at the bookcase next to the hallway. She stared at the floor and noticed some scratches. "This bookcase is hiding a passage. Scratch marks are on the floor."

"All right." Hiryu pushed it out of the way, revealing another room.

Hien aimed his SS1-M5 and went inside first. "Clear. There's an armoire inside." The others followed the Filipino Spriggan inside.

Jill and Eriko aimed their sidearms at the armoire before the latter opened the door after they heard loud banging. Out came a Caucacian man with black hair. He was... tied up for the moment.

"Déjame sacar." Eriko told the man after she took off the masking tape used to seal his mouth. Hiryu got his Fairbarn-Sykes knife out and used it to cut the ropes used to tie his hands and feet.

"Tú no eres como ellos?" The Spanish man asked Eriko, noticing that she was able to speak Spanish.

"No lo somos." Eriko shook her head left and right.

"Perfect." The man said in fluent English. "One important question. Any of you guys got smokes?"

Leon looked around the group and noted that no one offered a cigarette to the man. "I don't think we got any."

"Never..." The man saw two villagers block their way before a tall man with a beard, bald head and wearing black clothes including trench coat and shoes went inside.

"Okay..." Hiryu sighed when he saw the bald man. "We're cut off."

Kevin went to move in on the bald man. "You suck for getting in our way!" The ex-SPF officer went for a forward kick, only for the bald man to grab his right foot.

"You miss..." The bald man said with a Spanish accent. Kevin's eyes were wide open when the man smirked, hurling him towards Leon.

"UNGH!" Both men were knocked out. Yu and Jean went for another offensive, but the man punched them hard that not even the Armored Muscle Suit could save him from the hard impact of being knocked out onto someone else.

"Blast you!"

Cammy dashed in for a Spiral Arrow after the two Spriggans were out cold. The bald man sidestepped and waited for Cammy to kneel before he elbowed and punched her hard that she was sent flying to the wall.

"AAAAHHH!" Java tried to punch the man on his stomach. So far, his efforts were for nothing. The bald man executed a double straight attack on his chest that sent him flying to the armoire, destroying it and knocking the Spanish man out due to his sheer weight.

Tea teleported and knocked out the two villagers by confusing them, but the bald man kicked her from the side when the British Spriggan was behind him.

"AAGH!" yelled Tea before she was out cold.

Jill went for a roundhouse, but the bald man threw her across the room towards Chun-Li. The INTERPOL officer didn't have time to react as she was thrown towards her like a baseball. Fujino got her I-Cutter and tried to stab the bald man. Instead, she was kicked in the stomach hard that she was kneeling on the floor to clutch her stomach before she fainted. Eriko aimed her sidearm at the tall man, but he punched her on the right temple that she was knocked out as well.

Dan went for the offensive. Instead, he received a strong backfist that sent him flying towards Martin and Diana.

"Just you and me bro." Hiryu and Hien said, seeing that they're the only ones left standing.

"I know."

The twins charged towards the bald man, intending on taking him down.

"Just try it." The bald man uttered before he used a punch and kick to take down the twins even though they had Orihalcon-made suits on to protect themselves from being killed outright.

* * *

><p>Near outskirts of Abandoned House, outskirts of El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Ada was walking by the fences near the abandoned house, seeing Kenneth was peeking through the fence hole.<p>

"Glad to see someone familiar." Ada greeted Kenneth. The latter was about to fire his 9mm HK USP Compact at the intruder before he noted that it was Ada.

"Apologies." Kenneth greeted Ada after holstering his sidearm. "Didn't see you there."

"What's happening?"

"See for yourself."

The Chinese-American peeked through the hole in the fence to see that Leon and the group were taken away by several villagers one man at a time. A few villagers were on hand to carry Java as he was too heavy.

"That's Bitores Mendez, the village chief." Ada murmured. "He's on the big shots in the cult next to Saddler."

"They got him." Kenneth whispered to Ada, seeing the Spanish man being carried out of the house.

"Seems we're too late to secure him."

"Now what?" The Chinese teen sighed as the people were all carried out.

"We'll need to contact Wesker on this matter." Ada told Kenneth.

Kenneth watched Bitores tell the villagers to secure the prisoners.

_Dammit. If I have been here a bit earlier, I could have helped Leon._

* * *

><p>Unknown Facility, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>A man with a cloak and hood examined the prisoners tied up and unconscious. One of the doctors tried to remove Hiryu's balaclava as he was unconscious. The hood-wearing man stopped the doctor, indicating that there was no need to do so. The place looked like any kind of medical facility, aside from the fact that was blood smeared all over the place.<p>

"Feeble humans." The man smirked. "Let us give you... our power." A doctor came to Leon's unconscious body and began to position the syringe on a blood vessel located somewhere in his neck.

"Soon you will be unable to resist... this intoxicating power."

The syringe was then positioned, injecting something into Leon's body first before Kevin was the next person to be injected with the same unknown substance followed by the others with Java being last.

* * *

><p>Unknown Room, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p><em>NOOOOOOO!<em>

Leon shot up after he was out of conscious for a certain amount of time. There were two things he noted.

One, he was in some one-room house where he was tied up. And two, he was tied up with the same Spanish man the group had previously met.

_Now we're all tied up. How do we get out of this mess?_

Chapter 2 END

* * *

><p>PS - For this chapter, Kenneth "Kenny" Feng from noctorro makes his debut. And I'm referring to Mark and Michael Sy as Hiryu and Hien since they don't want their names to be revealed to certain people. Let me know how I did things if I should improve things or what... It's greatly appreciated.<p>

A list of who's who, at least to those who are going to be heavily involved in the series. Someone suggested I do this. Although I must warn that they probably didn't show up in the chapter.

- Leon Kennedy, Jill Valentine, Kevin Ryman, Ada Wong, Ingrid Hunnigan, Osmund Saddler, Salazar, Ashley Graham, Bruce McGivern, Luis Sera, Adam Benford and Jack Krauser (Resident Evil series)

- Cammy White, Chun-Li and Geki (Street Fighter series)

- Eriko Aizawa and Kei Amami (Jiriashin)

- Yu Ominae, Jean Jacquemonde and Tea Flatte (Spriggan)

- Fujino Asagami (Kara no Kyokai)

- Sho (Captain Commando)

- Martin Mystery, Diana Lombard, Java the Caveman, MOM, Billy and Octavia Paine (Martin Mystery)

- Mark/Michael Sy, Daniel "Dan" Lee (OC)

- Kenneth "Kenny" Feng (noctorro)

Hoped you enjoyed Bitores taking out everyone flying before being knocked out onto someone else. :p

Also thanking noctorro for some input as well. May have been a bit too late in using your suggestions, but I'll work around that next chapter. ;)


	3. Assistance

Resident Evil/Biohazard: Hostage Rescue

Rating: T

NOTE:

All characters of Resident Evil/Captain Commando/Street Fighter are under the copyright of Capcom. All characters of Martin Mystery are under the copyright of Marathon. All characters of Kara no Kyokai are under the copyright of TYPE-MOON. All characters of Spriggan are under the copyright of Hiroshi Takashige and Ryoji Minagawa. All characters of Jiraishin are under the copyright of Tsutomu Takahashi. The appearance of Kenneth "Kenny" Feng is under noctorro's jurisdiction. All others are under my jurisdiction.

Summary:

Leon and the others were caught by Bitores Mendez, a high-ranking member of Los Illuminados. Will be able to escape from captivity and move on with their missions? Stay tune to this chapter to find out.

Chapter 3: Assistance

* * *

><p>Unknown Room, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p><em>Great. We're all tied up.<em>

When Leon had the time to regain conscious properly and observe the place, he sighed and wondered how long he was tied up. That's despite the fact that everything was too quiet.

Way too quiet. When a place was way too quiet, it meant something bad was about to happen.

_The others are out cold too_.

Leon saw that the others were out cold too and on the floor. He frowned when he remembered about the dream regarding the injection of something on his neck.

_I'll take care of that problem later. Right now..._ The agents saw that Luis Sera was tied up.

"Hey, are you okay?" Leon asked Luis when he saw the Spanish man regained full conscious.

"I am now." Luis told him.

"Didn't get your name, by the way."

"Luis Sera." Luis grinned. "And I know you. Leon Kennedy and your partner appears to be Kevin Ryman."

Leon raised an eyebrow. "How did you..."

"Surprised?" Luis gave a weak chuckle. "I used to be with the Cuerpo Nacional de Policía a few years ago. So I heard about you guys here and there when the Raccoon City crisis was in the international headlines." He shrugged. "After all, I left the CNP since I don't think us police officers don't get any respect these days."

"That's... interesting. Never knew that a few of the survivors from the crisis became headlines aside from CNN and from the BBC if I recall correctly. Besides, I was in the force for one day."

"Interesting."

"So what now?"

"We need to get out of these chains." Leon then gestured to the others chained up on the ground. "They're also in the same predicament too. Plus I need to locate a hostage."

"You mean the daughter of the American president?" Luis asked when nodded. He told him. "Word out there is she's in a church somewhere."

"Right." Leon nodded. "Now I really am urgent to get out of these chains."

"But how?" Luis asked the man. "It's not like that we can get something that we can use."

The two men heard a door slam very loud.

"How's that?" Leon told Luis.

"Depends on what's going to happen next?" Luis told him, seeing a villager drag a halberd. From the way he looked, it seemed that he didn't take a bath for a very long time. The man ignored any concern of a lack of hygiene, having old cuts and wounds on his arms and hands while dragging the halbered with him.

"Oh great." Leon groaned. "I guess we're suppose to be disposed off."

Luis felt scared. Very scared_. _Scared that their lives could come to an end with just one full slash or chop if the villager can muster all of his strength.

"Do something, cop!"

Unknown to the two, a ninja had infiltrated the house to follow the halberd-wielding villager from behind. As the villager came closer with the halberd, the ninja drew out his ninjato from his saya as he held the bladed weapon with both of his hands.

"Shit." Leon cursed, seeing that the villager was about to raise the halberd.

"EIYAH!"

The two men clearly heard someone shout in a loud voice before the villager was stabbed at the back of his head.

"What the?" The ex-SPF officer whispered, seeing the villager drop down on his knees after he released his grip on the halberd.

"Are you all right?" The ninja asked after he saw the villager drop dead, face first on the floor.

"You're familiar..." Leon said when he saw the star emblem on the ninja's chest.

"I'm surprised if someone doesn't know me." The ninja chuckled after hearing Leon's comment. "I am Sho of the Commandos."

"Nice to see someone is here to help us." Luis grinned at Sho as he raised his ninjato known as Lightning Light before cutting the chains in half, freeing Leon and Luis.

"Thanks!" Luis shouted as he got up from the ground.

"I'll need your help in freeing the others." Leon told Sho after getting the chains off him.

"Of course." The two went to work in getting the unconscious Cammy and Chun-Li to sit upright. Sho was able to slash the chains off them once it was clear that the ninjato wouldn't harm them.

"This will take a while to get everyone out of the chains used to bind them." Sho said to himself as he kept slashing the chains. His ninjato was no ordinary ninjato as it was able to cut through anything, even at a molecular level.

* * *

><p>"My head..."<p>

Jean groaned as he was freed from the chains, being tied up with Yu after being knocked out by Bitores' superhuman strength.

"You're not the only one who had a headache."

Yu shook his head after he stared at the French Spriggan.

"I feel something else actually."

The two Spriggans stared at Tea, who had a frown.

"What do you mean?" Yu said as he shook his wrists.

"It feels like something was injected to my body." Tea told Yu, still frowning.

"You mean like a parasite?" Jean asked.

Tea nodded. "It looks that way, Jean."

Eriko went to scratch her neck, feeling an itch.

"Are you all right?" Chun-Li asked the detective as Cammy helped to see the others who were still unconscious.

"I just felt an itch. Like someone used a syringe or something."

"I don't like this feeling." Hiryu told Chun-Li.

"I agree." Hien added. "For one thing, where are our weapons?"

"That is a good question." Jill said when she noted that her sidearm was not with her. "My pistol's not with me..."

"Probably stashed them someplace near." Yu suggested, seeing that his personal sidearm was taken from him gear.

"How about we try this?" Kevin said after he got up, walking towards an armoire. He slowly opened it to make sure it wasn't booby trapped in anyway.

"Looks like our gear is here." Kevin told the others, taking his Glock 21 Mariner pistol. "And it still works." He did a brass check by pulling the pistol's slide back slightly to see if a bullet was in the chamber. The agent nodded to himself before he holstered it, satisfied that the villagers didn't do anything to the weapon.

It would be a while before the others were able to gear up with their equipment taken from them previously.

"Hey, Leon." Kevin called Leon. "I notice that you don't have your jacket."

"I know." Leon told Kevin. "Must've been taken while I was out cold."

* * *

><p>Forests, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p><strong>"I take it that you have some news for me?"<strong>

Ada was now talking to Wesker via smartphone. Kenny was standing nearby, ready to defend her should it be deemed necessary.

**"Bad news." **Ada told the shades-wearing man. **"Luis was caught by the villagers under Mendez's command."**

Wesker frowned when he heard the news. **"Then your mission objectives will change, Ada. Not only will you have to secure the Plaga sample. But you'll have to make sure that Sera lives to make sure he can lead you to the sample."**

**"Yeah, I got that." **The Chinese-American said, wanting to roll her eyes in frustration.

**"And be sure to use Kenny when you can. He's not much, but I've seen him handle a pistol quite well. Not to mention on his unarmed combat skills."  
><strong>

**"Don't worry on that, Wesker." **Ada told Wesker. **"I'll be sure to remember that."**

**"Good." **Wesker nodded. **"I look forward to an update with Sera later on, Ada."  
><strong>

"So what now?" Kenny asked after Ada kept her smartphone.

"You'll be playing bodyguard for a little while, my dear." Ada grinned at Kenny, who responded by muttering _Great_.

"Did you say something there?" Ada looked at Kenny, who simply glared back at her.

"Nothing." said the orphan.

* * *

><p>Unknown Room, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Everyone inside the room was now fully awake after taking back their stolen gear. Most of them wondered how it was easy for them to do so when Leon told them that they were suppose to be "taken care of". Tea added more info that something was injected into her neck.<p>

"I'm not liking this one bit." Jill frowned after hearing what Tea said. "If this is true, then we don't have much time before whatever the heck was injected into us will take over our bodies."

"Even if I'm an immortal, I'm not ready to die."

"Master." Hiryu greeted the ninja by bowing.

"You know him?" Martin asked him, seeing the ninja sheath his ninjato.

"You don't know him, Martin?" Diana told her stepbrother. "He's the Ninja Commando of the Commandos."

"He also happens to be the SHADOW's unarmed combat instructor back in the day when the group first started." Dan explained.

"Oh right!" Martin said after hearing Diana's explanation. He then told Sho. "I almost forgot about you! I'm a big fan of yours among the Commandos!"

"I am pleased to meet you all." Sho told the group. "But I am assuming that most of you are wondering why I'm here."

"Indeed." Leon told the ninja. "But we are grateful for your assistance."

"There will be a time and place for me to tell my story." Sho told the group. "But for now, we must leave."

As the ninja led them to the only door exiting the place, an unknown person wearing a black hood and violet scarf covering his nose and mouth appeared by the window.

"Over here, strangers." The hooded man told Sho before he walked away from the window.

"Who was that?" Kevin said, seeing the hooded man. He was about to draw out his sidearm when he noticed that the mysterious person did not mean them any harm.

"Don't know." Leon told him. "But it seems that he wants to help us." He motioned to the others to get out of the house and search the area around it.

* * *

><p>Outside House, Compound, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>The group got of the house, glad to leave it especially when they were held captive for an undetermined period of time. The day was still cloudy without any rain as it was from a while ago.<p>

"Now where is that guy anyway?" Martin asked, checking the compound. _He's not around the front..._

"Over here!"

The hooded man shouted, getting the group's attention.

"From the back." Eriko told the group, pointing to a path that can go to the back of the house.

"I shall cover the front." Sho told the others. "And do not worry, I am more than capable of taking care of myself."

"Let's go." Leon said, taking the lead. He made a turn to the left and saw the hooded man standing between two flame pillars. Blue flame pillars to be specific.

"Whoa." Hien whistled. "Nice touch."

"Welcome strangers." The hooded man chuckled before he introduced himself. "You can call me the Merchant."

If anyone were to study his name, they would know that he had a British Cockney accent and not a Spanish accent.

_So he's not a local. _Diana thought to herself after hearing the Merchant speak.

"An interesting name." Yu said, rolling his eyes.

"Oh please." The Merchant chuckled at Yu's disappointment. "After all, I've got sumthin' that might interest ya."

"Interest us?" Kevin asked, raising an eyebrow on whether the Merchant was just saying it for the sake of saying it.

"I'm quite serious here, stranger." The Merchant shook his hand. He brought his left hand to his cloak before he moved it to show the interior of his hood.

"OH MY GOD!" Diana shouted, wanting to close her eyes. "A FLASHER!"

Chun-Li sighed after she heard the young Center agent shout.

"He didn't flash, Diana."

When Diana looked at the Merchant, she was greeted by a chuckle.

"What the hell are you talking about, stranger?" The Merchant's cloak was full of various weapons, including many kinds of pistols, revolvers and knives.

"Are you an arms dealer?" Yu asked the Merchant. "'Cause you got some weapons that don't seem to be very appealing."

"That's where you're wrong, my boy." The Merchant placed down the wooden backpack that he's been carrying behind his back.

"Is that thing made of wood?" Jill asked no one, wondering how a person like him can carry it without having some kind of back problem.

"Don't worry about that, stranger." The Merchant began to open the backpack like an armoire. "I've been through a lot worse."

"Seems like he's got something for us." Leon whispered to Kevin, watching the Merchant take something from his wooden backpack.

"That I can tell." Kevin nodded in agreement with his partner.

"Here you go." The Merchant showed off a bolt-action sniper rifle from his backpack to the group. "I'm thinking that your little group may need this weapon."

"What is that?" Leon said, studying the weapon. "That a Remington-based rifle you got there?"

"Almost, but not quite." The Merchant told Leon. "It's an Austrian Steyr SSG P IV or Scharfschützengewehr 69 in German since the weapon's made in 1969. This rifle has a silencer already mounted as the barrel with a 5 round rotary magazine to handle 7.62 NATO rounds. Has a Leupold scope on it."

"Sweetness." Kevin whistled after hearing what the Merchant had said. "Sounds like a pretty good weapon to me." _Especially since the ammo needed at best is subsonic 7.62 NATO rounds._

"Of course I don't just give this weapon for free, stranger." The Merchant faced Kevin.

_Course he doesn't._

"So I'll take that this costs a lot of money?" Hiryu asked the Merchant, who nodded in reply.

"It'll cost ya around 13,000 pesetas to buy this rifle."

"That's... quite a lot of money." Martin mumbled, wondering if they got a lot of pesetas collected from the villagers killed off by the group or by pillaging empty houses and buildings in and around the El Pueblo.

"Hopefully this can cover whatever we need." Tea stepped forward and handed the Merchant the Pearl Pendant.

"I'll buy it at a high price." The Merchant replied before taking the pendant from Tea. "Thank you. So you guys now have 10,000 pesetas taken care of, which leaves 3,000."

Tea handed in several Spinels to the Merchants, examining each one of them before he pocketed them. The arms dealer counted at least eight Spinels from their possessions. But he took two and gave Tea everything else back.

"Two Spinels will do as they cost 2,000 pesetas." The Merchant told the group before he asked them. "Is there anything else that you need to purchase from me today?"

"Couple of First Aid Sprays." Leon told the Merchant.

"Sure." Tea gave him a Spinel before the Merchant pocketed it, grabbing a couple of First Aid spray cans from his backpack.

"Here ya go. Two First Aid Spray cans, just like you asked." Cammy got one of them and showed it to Leon and Kevin.

"Least it doesn't belong to Umbrella." Leon said, seeing the can's label to be from the Tricell Pharmaceutical Company.

"I can take one of those." Jill took the second First Aid Spray can from the Merchant, placing it at her rear hip pouch.

"Looks like business is done." Kevin said as the Merchant handed him the SSG P IV, checking the black stock and body to ensure that it was working. He then went to pull and push the bolt to check its functionality. "Doesn't seem to be loaded to me."

"That's where I come in, stranger." The Merchant handed Kevin a couple of 7.62 NATO rifle box ammo, the latter taking it from him. "Since you people are my only customers, I'll throw in a couple of them rifle ammo on the house. How does that sound?"

"Seems fair." Jill said when she heard the Merchant. "But why are you being so nice? And how do we know that you're not in league with the villagers?"

"Stranger." The Merchant began to respond to Jill's queries. "You can trust me that I'm not with them. Besides, I'm not from this place."

"Think we can see that." Jean sighed, scratching his head. Kevin was on the side, loading up on the SSG P IV with bullets. When he was done, he slinged the rifle on his back while he kept the ammo.

"I can handle this one." The ex-veteran RPD officer said after he slinged the sniper rifle. "I'm one of the best shooters in the RPD, so I can handle this rifle with no problem."

The others did not object to Kevin's plan on hanging onto the silenced sniper rifle, especially Jill and Leon as the two of them had heard of Kevin's impressive shooting abilities when Raccoon City was still around. At least they can get the jump on the enemy without getting themselves into trouble.

"We better move." Leon advised the group. "The longer we stay here, the more we'll be in trouble."

"Don't worry about me, strangers. I'll be here if you need me." The Merchant said as he watched the group walk away from him.

"Right." Martin waved the Merchant after he heard him. "Let's go Di, Java."

"Hooded man look very creepy." Java told Martin after he took a good look at the Merchant a while ago.

"Relax, Jav." Martin reassured the caveman Center agent. "Sure, the hooded guy looks creepy and all, but he's on our side."

"I hope so." Diana told Martin and whispered. "He honestly gave me the creeps."

The radios of Leon and Kevin went on, making the two stop in their tracks and contact Ingrid.

**"What happened there?" **Ingrid said, sounding concerned. **"I was trying to get a hold of you two..."**

**"Sorry we couldn't get in touch sooner." **Leon responded. **"We were a bit tied up."**

**"You guys are okay, right?"**

**"Don't worry about us." **Kevin insisted. **"Sure we were tied up and all, but we're all right to continue the mission."**

**"There was a male civilian with us." **Leon told Ingrid. **"According to him, Ashley's held in a church somewhere."**

**"What happened to him?" **Ingrid asked.

**"He managed to escape."**

**"Do you have a fix on the location of that church?"**

**"No, but apparently there's a secret passage that leads there."**

**"We'll head back to the village and check the place for leads." **Kevin told Ingrid. **"Kevin and Leon out."  
><strong>

* * *

><p>Front of House, Compound, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"I hope all of you were able to speak with the mysterious stranger." Sho greeted the group as they approached the gate of the compound.<p>

"We did." Kevin replied. "But he's a merchant. Not to mention that he was willing to sell us stuff that can help us do our job better."

"Then it must be a sign from the kamis." Sho said while nodding. "But I must point out that there are hostiles outside."

"Great." Martin was about to get to the gate when Kevin placed a hand on his right shoulder.

"It's better if we can pick them off from here." Kevin told the young Center agent. "After all, I was a good marksman back in the day."

"I agree." Hien told Martin. "The less enemies we can see from here, the better."

"Over here." Cammy told Kevin, seeing a crack on the wall. "The crack on the compound wall's small for them not to see us, but it's good to use as a sniping point."

"Nice one." Kevin grinned as he unslinged his SSG P IV before he shouldered the bolt-action rifle. "Alright, let's do it. Everyone else, cover me in case the villagers decide to breach this place."

Leon told the others to get ready while Kevin peered down through the Leupold scope.

"I'm sighting two villagers on the outskirts of the compound." Kevin reported back to Leon, who placed his back on the compound wall next to him. "They don't know that we're free from captivity."

"Take them down, Kevin." Leon said after he drew out and held his Silver Ghost. Even though Kevin had excellent marksmanship in the RPD, there was no telling when a horde of villagers will raid the place and bring down the gate. It was better to be prepared than not to be at all.

"With pleasure, Leon." Once Kevin had the Leupold's sights down on the head of a villager, Kevin squeezed the SSG P IV's trigger with confidence.

_Bingo. _He watched the subsonic 7.62 NATO bullet crash into the forehead of the villager. But instead of making a hole into the man's forehead, his head exploded like a balloon that was popped after someone used a pin to burst it open.

"Shit." muttered the ex-SPF officer. "It's not right."

"What happened?" Leon saw Kevin's face was full of frowning.

"The villager with the sickle outside." Kevin told his partner. "When I shot him in the head, it exploded instead of making a hole in the forehead." He continued to work with the SSG P IV, sniping two more villagers on the way. One was on the roof of a house while another was on a tower. Both shots resulted in headshots.

"That's not right." Leon frowned as well. "The last time I saw that was in Raccoon City with zombies..."

"Hold on." Kevin aimed the SSG P IV again, seeing that another villager was checking the first villager shot by him. He took aim and this time, shot him in the right temple. _Not again. _Kevin saw that the second villager's head exploded when he went down. He then pulled the bolt back and went to reload the sniper rifle.

"Got him." Leon heard Kevin tell him of his success. "But be ready. It won't be long before the villagers start to make their way towards this place."

"¡Te voy a matar!"

"They're coming!" Hiryu shouldered his G36C. "Everyone, get ready!"

There were some sounds of running, but no one knew how many were coming for the group.

As everyone else aside from Kevin began to get ready for an attack by the villagers, the double metal doors were opened. Four villagers armed with farming tools stared at the group before one of them charged in with a pitchfork.

"This again..."

Leon sighed as he got his sidearm ready. As the villagers didn't focus on either him or Kevin, the former took aim at the pitchfork-armed villager and fired a shot from his pistol. He went down, forcing to kneel.

"On the offensive, Java!" Martin said as he activated the U-Watch to get out his I-Cutter. Java charged in towards the first villager, punching him on the left temple before delivering a sharp uppercut on his chin.

Martin charged towards the sickle-armed villager, destroying the farming tool before kicking him back towards another villager behind him.

"Smoke bomb!" Sho joined in the fight by stunning the villagers that came in the compound by hurling smoke bombs. Jill and Eriko fired their pistols at the villagers still standing until they were down on the floor.

Dan moved in, firing his SIG Sport 552 at the villagers after they were on the ground while Hiryu joined in with the G36C and Hien with the Pindad SS1-M5 Commando.

The villagers groaned after they were shot several times before they dissolved.

"Okay." Kevin said as he slinged the sniper rifle. "Path's clear, but we better move or else more of them will come."

Leon took the lead as the group moved out of the compound and down the steps.

"Be sure to cover all sides." Kevin reminded the group. "There's no telling what the villagers will do next."

"Hopefully it'll be better." Jill had her Beretta Px4 Type F pistol ready, covering the rear as they went down the steps.

* * *

><p>Outskirts of Compound, Unknown Complex, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Leon and the others were at the base of the steps when they saw what was around the compound. Several houses in and around the area were connected by wooden platforms without any railings on the side. Flags of the Los Illuminados were seen, although they placed on rags that were used as makeshift flags. Looking at the wooden floors, one wrong step would send anyone of them down to their deaths. One would wonder if the complex was created with obvious defense in mind.<p>

"Now we need to be careful around here." Diana told the group. "One wrong step and we're done for."

"Agreed." Cammy said, looking at the wooden floors. "Chun-Li and I wouldn't be able to do any of our moves since we need a lot of room."

"Question is how did these guys construct the place? I mean without even modern construction tools..." Yu was amazed at the complex's location and how they only used wood at a construction tool.

"It is amazing." Jean told Yu before he shouldered the Franchi SPAS-12 on his right shoulder. "But we have more company."

"¡Por aquí!"

Another bunch of villagers were now approaching the group, some of them now armed with dynamite sticks.

"Look out!" Leon told the group. "They got dynamite!" He raised Silver Ghost and aimed the laser sight at the villager's dynamite after it was lit. Jill and Eriko joined while Kevin provided sniping support. Hiryu, Hien and Dan fired their assault rifles to provide suppressive fire in order to give the three enough time to shoot the lit dynamite sticks and cause massive casualties among the villagers.

Explosions took place once the dynamite was shot, taking out a number of villagers in the mix without leaving any bodies behind.

"Whoa..." Martin murmured, looking away from the explosions. He was not the only one as the others did the same thing.

"That was loud." Diana said, covering her ears when the explosions had occurred. "Really, really loud."

Leon then looked at the floor before he looked up, seeing that there was no one shouting anything hostile at him or at the others in Spanish. As usual, no bodies were seen as they usually dissolve after they were killed. But this time, the villagers were killed by the dynamite blasts that there were no traces of their body parts.

"Alright, they're gone." Leon told the group before he stared at the house at his left. "For now, we can check the houses here." He pointed to the house connected by a wooden walkway.

"Leon and I will search the houses." Kevin the group instructions. "The rest of you keep an eye out for any hostiles."

The two DSO agents approached the first house with guns drawn out before Kevin kicked the door open.

* * *

><p>Inside Unknown House, Unknown Complex, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"Clear left!" Leon said, being the first to enter.<p>

"Clear right!" Kevin said, noticing a door again inside. He slowly walked in and pushed it carefully before he peeked to ensure that no hostiles were inside.

"How is it?" Leon asked Kevin, covering his back.

"Looks clear." Kevin opened the door, showing Leon that the room was clear. With the exception of a locker, there was no one inside.

"Let's take anything that isn't clamped down on the ground." Leon told Kevin, approaching the locker and opening it. Inside was a flashbang grenade.

"I'll take this." The ex-RPD officer murmured, taking the flashbang and closing the locker door.

"Hopefully the others will be all right outside." Kevin said as he spotted another door, leading outside.

The two agents moved out. But before they got out, Leon handed Kevin a box of 7.62 NATO rifle ammo.

"Thought that you may need this. You're a better shot than me after all."

"Thanks, Leon."

* * *

><p>Outside Unknown House, Unknown Complex, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Leon and Kevin barged outside, their pistols leading the way as they checked the outskirts. Once it was clear, Kevin motioned to Leon that a ladder was propped up on the roof.<p>

"I'll stay here." Kevin said, pointing to the ladder. "You get up there and take a look."

"Right." Leon climbed up the ladder and stopped on the way to smash a barrel to take a Green herb. _I'll remind myself to combine these two later on._

As Leon got up the roof, he saw a chest that was left unguarded by any hostile villagers. Given that Kevin had initially cleared the place up, it was easy for Leon to stroll up to the thing and open it to grab whatever was inside there.

"I hope it's not booby trapped." Leon aimed the Silver Ghost at it while using his free hand to open the chest. When he peeked inside, he sighed in relief that it was not booby trapped or anything.

"An emblem." Leon saw that it was the right half of an emblem. _But where is the left one?_

He holstered his pistol and held onto the emblem as he jumped down from the roof without any problem.

"Whatcha got?" Kevin said, seeing the emblem Leon had.

"Looks like an emblem piece." Leon showed Kevin. "But we need to locate the other half. Probably somewhere with the other remaining houses."

"We better move." Leon and Kevin made their back to the group. After Leon told them that he and Kevin secured the emblem, Tea volunteered to hang onto it. Leon accepted Tea's offer and gave it to her.

"Here they come." Jill told Leon, seeing more villagers charging at them from a distance.

"We can go over there!" Jean told the group, pointing to higher ground that was accessible via ground.

* * *

><p>Outskirts of Church, outskirts of El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Kenny and Krauser were speaking to Saddler outside of the church. Since the three of them were the only living souls around, it was perfect for them to have their private meetings.<p>

"So you're saying that someone got in the church?" Krauser asked Saddler, pointing to the church.

"Indeed." Saddler told him. "But it is of no importance as the intruder was not able to find out where Ms. Ashley Graham is."

Kenny stared at the church behind him. There it was and Saddler hand mentioned where the hostage was. If he could just get inside there and rescue her, then they could escape...

"Ahem." Krauser was pretending to cough, getting Kenny's attention.

"Sorry, Krauser." Kenny apologized to the ex-special forces operative. "I was trying to remember something."

"I hope that it can wait." Krauser said, rolling his eyes. "Apologies. So I'm wondering if we can take the lead in securing..."

"I appreciate it." Saddler threw a fake smile to Krauser. "But there is no need really. I've... taken the necessary precautions so that the same incident won't happen twice again."

Krauser nodded. _Hopefully that can throw off whoever's trying to rescue the girlie. _

"I also have some good news for you." Saddler told Krauser. "I've been told that among the intruders seen here were ex-survivors of the Raccoon City incident. Their names are Leon Kennedy, Kevin Ryman and Jill Valentine."

Kenny's eyes were almost wide open when he heard the news. _Can't be. They're actually here? Shit. They might complicate things unintentionally..._

"That is interesting news indeed." Krauser's face had a grin when he heard Leon's name from Saddler. "I've worked with one of them before in Operation Javier."

"So I take it that you have no problem in handling them?"

"Of course not."

"Very good." Saddler nodded. "In addition, we've got agents from the Center, ARCAM and the Japanese National Police Agency on this little thing we're doing for the American government."

"Well looks like this'll be an interesting for us." Krauser said as he began to crack his knuckles. "Ain't it right, kiddo?"

"Uh, um yeah! That's right!" Kenny shouted in reply.

"Aren't you really spunky today?"

* * *

><p>Elevated Pathway, Unknown Complex, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Leon and Kevin led the group through the elevated pathway, which had sandbags around the area as they got up. Those with bullets left in their weapons fought off the advancing villagers while those who don't have advanced ahead to check the path to make sure it was safe.<p>

"Keep moving!" Dan shouted, firing his Sport 552 to cover the others in semi-auto mode.

"Keep the fire up!" Jill fired her Px4 Type F at the villagers, stopping only to get the empty magazine out of her pistol and reload with a fresh one.

"Here's one!" Leon said, motioning to the others to get away as he hurled one of the frag grenades he had previously secured. The explosion took out a few of the villagers.

Java saw that a villager was about to climb the ladder going to the pathway. He snarled his teeth and kicked his face.

"Good one Java!" Martin said, getting his I-Cutter before he slashed the cover open by slicing in half. He then saw the left side of the emblem Leon had acquired earlier.

"Seems to be like an emblem." Diana said, looking at it. "Or at least part of it." The gunfire seemed to die down after Kevin hurled an incendiary grenade at the surviving villagers, the fire burning them up.

"Over here!" Martin motioned to Leon, showing him the emblem he got.

"Good work, Martin." Leon grinned at Martin while patting him at his left shoulder. "Tea should have the other emblem half..."

"Right here." Tea smiled while giving the emblem to Leon. Yu, Jean and Hiryu were a bit surprised and scared at this, since Tea was unpredictable.

"So they use emblems to lock down doors?" Yu said as he watched Leon combine the emblem halves into one. "Not surprising, considering the line of work the old man does..."

"We should locate the gate out of this place." Cammy told the group.

"What about securing the place for additional supplies?" Dan asked after he reloaded his assault rifle.

"I can do that." Cammy told Dan before he jumped onto the ground and went towards another house. She saw some of the villagers coming at her with axes, but the Delta Red operative was quick enough to avoid them while executing some of her kicks before stomping on their heads to make sure they were dead permanently.

* * *

><p>Gate, Unknown Complex, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Jill and Kevin were the first to stay at the gate while Leon took some of the others to check the houses for ammo, pesetas and healing equipment. So far, the two had the "best job" ever.<p>

"So how were you holding up prior to getting here?" Jill asked Leon, trying to get some conversation going.

"Not bad." Kevin responded to Jill's question. "Been chilling in Miami for a while before DSO recruited me alongside Leon." He then told her. "I will assume that you're familiar with them."

Jill nodded.

"What about you then? How have you been since the end of Raccoon City?"

"A lot of things happened. I was recruited by a Private Regional Biohazard Containment Unit to raid Umbrella's Russian facility with help from the FSB." Jill told Kevin her part of her story. "I was recruited into the Center."

"The anti-paranormal organization?" Kevin asked. "That's a big surprise."

"I know." Jill nodded once more. "But I'm told that the UN is preparing to raise an anti-terrorist unit with emphasis on bioweapons prevention. In a few years, it'll take over from the Center since it's the only organization conducting that role after Raccoon City."

"So you're placed in the Center to get anti-bioweapons experience?" Kevin surmised. "That is interesting..."

"I hope that we can meet each other again, but not under these circumstances."

"Couldn't agree with you more there."

"Sorry we're late." Leon told Jill and Kevin as he arrived with the group. "Some stragglers were around, so we had to take care of them."

"Hopefully you guys had the time to reload." Kevin told Leon before he stared at the others.

"Don't worry about us." Yu insisted. "We're here. Right now, we need to get out of here."

"Kevin." Leon handed Kevin the combined emblem. "It's for the door behind you."

"No problem." Kevin got the emblem from his partner. He then attached the emblem onto the door, hearing a clicking sound as it was in place.

"All right." Kevin told Leon. "It's in."

Yu and Jean went towards the gate, getting it open before aiming their weapons towards the other side of the gate to make sure it was clear.

"Clear left!" Yu said, aiming his HK G3A4 assault rifle.

"Clear right!" Jean said, aiming his SPAS-12 shotgun.

The group saw that a long dirt road was beyond the gate. No one was around the place.

"All clear." Yu told the others. "We can proceed."

Leon nodded after hearing what Yu had said.

* * *

><p>Dirt Road, outskirts of Unknown Complex, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>The group advanced down the dirt road, most of them having their weapons aimed down as they walked slowly in order to avoid being caught by surprise in case a villager would ambush them.<p>

"As usual." Yu sighed while he had ported the G3KA4. "It's too quiet. We'll be bound for an enemy attack sooner or later."

"Some boxes." Hiryu went to the boxes to look around for a barrel to smash in. He found money and a Green herb.

"Anyone with injuries?" The masked SHADOW agent said as he showed a Green herb.

"I can take that." Leon took the herb. "Besides, I can combine this with the other two Green herbs I got."

Up ahead was a blue gate, which had a barrel next to it. Martin directed Java to smash it open with a kick, taking some pesetas with a total of 900 pesetas. He allowed Tea to get the money with no problem at all.

"Man I wonder how much space does she have?" Hien whispered, seeing Tea keep the pesetas with the money pouch given to her from Diana.

"Stealth or Dynamic Entry?"

The group was quiet when they heard Jill's question. They were silent before Eriko raised a suggestion.

"I would suggest that we head in quietly. If there are hostiles in there, we can catch them off their guard."

"It's a good idea." Jill agreed with Eriko. "Least we won't get into bigger trouble than we have to make noise."

"All right." Leon approached the gate and pushed it slowly. An eerie sound was made by the gates as they were pushed open towards the inside of the building.

"Looks like no one's home." Dan commented, seeing that the interior was all clear.

"Time to get inside." Hien murmured, being the first to get in.

* * *

><p>Inside Building, outskirts of Unknown Complex, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>When the group went inside, they saw various boxes that were littered around the room. A barrel was seen in the corner and Leon saw it. He ran towards it and kicked it open, only to see nothing inside.<p>

"Forget it." Leon told the group, showing them the only metal door leading to another part of the building.

"Time to stack up." Leon and Kevin were on the right side of the door while Yu and Jean were on other side. Jill and Eriko were near the door entrance with Chun-Li and Cammy ready to assist when needed. The others stepped back to allow them maneuvering space.

"Here goes." Jean got the doorknob before he slowly opened it. Jill raised her sidearm when she sighted a villager at the corridor. Aiming the iron sights, Jill fired a single shot to hit the villager at the left kneecap to make it kneel before aiming the pistol at the forehead.

Jill did not react when she saw the villager's head explode. "Seen that coming." She gestured to Yu and Jean to immediately get to the other side as she heard more people shouting Spanish from the other side.

"Let's move!" Jean shouted, being the first to get in followed by Yu. Leon and Kevin followed their lead before latter told Jill and Eriko to secure the rear.

"More of them!" Leon shouted, raising his sidearm when he caught sight of three villagers, all of them carrying axes except one with a pitchfork.

"I'll handle this!" Yu fired the G3A4 after he shouldered the assault rifle, doing body shots while doing a few leg shots on the way. Jean teamed up with Yu and fired the SPAS-12 at the downed villagers, aiming at their heads. Only a couple of them died when their heads exploded from the closeness of the shotgun's barrel to their head. One screamed in pain before his body was dissolved with the others.

Sho dashed in and stabbed the last surviving villager on the forehead after he got up with his ninjato. "EIYAH!" He then went down permanently.

"All clear..." Jean told Leon, reloading his SPAS-12 with 12 gauge shells found previously. Leon told Jill that it was safe to get in the corridor with them.

"So we got company?" Chun-Li asked after stepping into the corridor.

"Yeah." Kevin replied. "But the French guy took care of it." He pointed to Jean via hitchhiker's thumb.

"The name's Jean, mind you." The French Spriggan operative glared at Kevin.

"Lay off him." Yu patted Jean's shoulder. "He's not the problem we're suppose to take care of."

Jean sighed when he heard his Japanese counterpart told him that getting angry at Kevin was not going to help. "You're right. Let's go." He then finished putting in the last 12 gauge shell before he pumped it to load a round into the chamber.

"I wonder if they were waiting for us?" Hiryu sighed, porting his G36C.

"Doubt it." Hien told him. "Best that we get around this place ASAP."

The group moved on, going around the U-shaped corridor before they stopped in front of a barrel and two windows. Leon went to check the barrel by kicking it, seeing a box of pistol ammo bullets.

"Since there aren't any enemies for the time being, let's use this opportunity to reload our weapons." Leon said before handing the two pistol ammo boxes to Eriko. "And don't worry about me, my pistol ammo's okay."

"Thank you." Eriko said as she accepted the ammo box. Taking her empty Sig Sauer P228 magazines, the detective carefully loaded each 9mm bullet into the magazine by hand until they were full.

"I guess we should dive right in." Martin said, pointing to the windows. "Since I don't see any doors around here."

"So any volunteers?" Kevin asked the group.

"I'll go." Hiryu said after Kevin asked. "I'll bet villagers are awaiting there with dynamite in hand."

"You sure you don't need to reload?" Leon asked him.

"I'll be fine." Hiryu said before he asked Fujino, who was pretty quiet. "Fujino, you're quiet back there. Want to give me a hand?"

"Not at all." Fujino replied. "I'll back you up."

"Here goes." Hiryu made a mad charge at the window, covering his balaclava-clad face and beret with his arms as he dashed in to take charge behind a large dumpster without a lid. Fujino joined in as well.

"What is the plan?" Fujino shouted as soon as they got behind the dumpster.

"Distract them!" Hiryu directed the Japanese SHADOW agent before the sound of dynamite exploding was heard. "I'll go and take them out! Got it?"

Fujino nodded in reply. She began to mentally use her bending powers to twist the arm of one of the dynamite-wielding villagers. The villager was heard yelling and screaming before the dynamite went off.

Hiryu went out of cover and fired the G36C in single shot mode, hitting the lone villager several times in the chest. One shot aimed at the head forced the villager to spin around like he was dizzy.

"Fujino! Now!" The SHADOW agent yelled as Fujino charged in with her I-Cutter, slashing the villager at his knees to make him kneel down before she stabbed him in the forehead.

When Fujino was under her urge to kill prior to being recruited by the Center, she would have enjoyed this as it was her way of calming her own soul since the Reien Girls Academy student didn't feel any pain at all. It was only after her indoctrination in the Center's SHADOW division that Fujino tried to avoid doing well lest she wanted to be branded as someone who enjoys killings. However, Fujino did not care if she killed the villagers or any of the villains behind the Los Illuminados and their allies. They kidnapped someone and it was her job to ensure that she's safe.

"Good work, Fujino." Hiryu lowered his G36C when Fujino lowered her I-Cutter, the blood dripping down from the laser blade as it was deactivated.

"Thanks." Fujino nodded before she used her bending powers in conjunction with clairvoyance to locate and destroy any foothold traps in the room. Loud snapping sounds were heard when Fujino had done this.

"All right, everyone!" Hiryu shouted after Fujino had disabled the foothold traps. "The foothold traps are disabled!"

Leon was the first to climb over the window frame.

"Thanks, you two. So we're clear."

"For the meantime." Kevin followed Leon before the others followed in climbing through either one of the two window frames. A villager came through the room from a door nearby as the Martin and Diana got in the room.

"We got a hostile." Leon said as he fired the Silver Ghost at the pitchfork-armed villager through the head. He was a bit dizzy before Jean came a bit close and fired the SPAS-12 at him. The head exploded as he spun around before the body dropped down on the ground.

"Not anymore." Jean glared at where the corpse was at it dissolved. "Cowards."

Another villager entered with an axe. When he saw Jean, he began to raise his arm in order to slash him.

"Hmph." Jean shouldered the SPAS-12 and fired it in semi-automatic mode at the head twice. The head exploded and made the body kneel before it dissolved once more. "Like I said, cowards."

Kevin searched the bodies and cabinets alike, finding pesetas and ammo alike with a Spinel as well.

"Got any 5.56 NATO ammo?" Hiryu asked Leon. "Might be running out of it soon and I'll need the reload if you got ammo boxes with you."

"Here." Leon handed whatever 5.56 NATO ammo boxes he has to Hiryu, Hien and Dan after telling Tea about it. While the trio began to reload their magazines by hand, Leon got a small piece of cloth from his pants pocket before he got the three Green herbs and placed them on the cloth.

"What are you doing?" Diana asked Leon as the three SHADOW agents were loading their empty magazines.

"I'm combining these Green herbs together." Leon began to explain to Diana on the herbs. "These kinds of herbs have three types. Green, Red and Yellow. Now depending on how you combine them, they'll either result in healing your wounds or they'll just heal the poison from your system. There are herb combinations that can allow the healing of wounds while removing poisons as well."

"But I thought that these herbs are only found in the Arklay mountains."

"I thought so too." Leon began to crush the herbs together inside the cloth, ensuring that nothing spills out of it.

"The path is clear." Fujino said to the group after peeking through the door that the two villagers had previously used before being killed by Jean. "No hostiles in sight."

"Understood." Jill replied after she eyed Leon mixing the herbs together by crushing it.

"What are you doing?" Cammy asked, watching Leon crush the herbs.

"Just getting some Green herbs together. If three of them are mixed, it'll increase the rate of healing wounds with a 100 percent efficiency."

"That is interesting." The Delta Red operative murmured. "I actually never heard of that."

"Me too, until a few years ago after the Raccoon City crisis started." Leon shrugged his shoulders before he checked the cloth. "Right, I'll go and secure the crushed herbs to make sure they don't fall down or anything." He began to tie the cloth in order to secure the crushed herbs and ensured that it was tied up and secured before he placed it on his rear hip pouch.

"We better move." Eriko told the others. "There's no telling when the villagers will come."

* * *

><p>"No one here but quiet."<p>

Another room, another break for the group as Kevin got inside the boiler-like room first. Aside from a window with wooden planks with another barrel nearby, it was easy game for the group to head through the next door.

"Hold on." Fujino told the group, checking out the boarded window. "There seems to be something behind here." She took out her I-Cutter and switched on the laser blade before the purple-haired girl used it to cut down the planks.

_A mask_. Fujino got the Elegant Mask from the bookshelf and showed it to the others.

"Another one huh?" Chun-Li said after seeing the mask. "Might be something we can sell to the merchant if we can find the appropriate item to find into the socket."

"Indeed." Tea agreed with Chun-Li before she asked Fujino to hand it to her as the British Spriggan would keep it for them.

Martin and Java broke the nearest barrel, finding 5.56 NATO ammo and a Red herb inside. The former handed it to Hiryu, who accepted it without any problem.

"Let's move." Leon led the group as he opened the door. It showed a stone-made corridor that resembled the ones you can see in medieval castles with steps going down.

* * *

><p>Corridor, Inside Building, outskirts of Unknown Complex, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>The group went down the stone steps, being careful as to mind where they were stepping to avoid tripping or falling down. The last thing they want is to be detected by any enemies nearby.<p>

"Hopefully we can catch a break." Cammy said to herself, walking down the steps behind Leon and Kevin. As they made a right turn on the corridor, a villager was spotted with a pitchfork and shouting at them.

"¡Puedes correr, pero no puedes esconederte!"

"Take this." Kevin raised his Glock 21 Mariner, shooting the villager twice in order to disarm him of the pitchfork. _Gotcha. _

Even though Kevin had disarmed the villager, it didn't stop him from charging towards the group like someone who had been pumped full of drugs. He shouted in anger and had raised his arms up, ready to strangle someone.

"Shit!"

Yu charged in, zipping up the collar to activate his Armored Muscle Suit. He intercepted the villager by doing a left cross on his face before the Spriggan executed a roundhouse kick to the right temple. When the villager went down, Yu used his left foot to step on the head hard. This resulted in an explosion, and to some of the people almost wanting to vomit such as Martin and Diana.

"A bit messy there, man." Hien commented, seeing his handiwork.

"Shut it." Yu glared at him. "Got no time for this." He told him before checking on the red Boxing face guard helmet modified to have a headset mounted on it while giving the ARCAM agent's head more protection from concussion and blows alike while ignoring some of the red blood on his left boot.

"There's a ladder we can use to get out of here." Eriko pointed out the ladder at the end, leading to the surface.

"About time too." Diana commented. "Can't wait to get out of here for good."

"Who's going to go first?" Tea asked after all of them had eyed the ladder.

"I'll do it." Leon holstered his Silver Ghost. "Cover me." He gripped the ladder carefully and ensured his feet were on it as well before he began to ascend it to the surface level. Sho followed him next, being quiet as to observe the group for himself.

* * *

><p>Outskirts of Unknown House, somewhere near El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>When Leon was able to climb out of the corridor down from the ladder to the surface, the DSO agent had exited to the ground level while climbing out an abandoned well. From the looks of things, Los Illuminados had created it as a way of disguising their passage down to the complex down from the outskirts of El Pueblo to someplace deep in the mountains.<p>

"It's safe." Leon shouted down the well after he and Sho secured the area.

"It is very quiet." The ninja observed. "Not to mention that the cult had concealed their ladder and its entrance by disguising it as an abandoned well."

"I'll have to admit that they used their heads on this one. Probably they don't want anyone to know about it." Soon enough, Kevin and the others began to climb up as well.

"It seems we will have to go up there." Sho pointed to the house nearby.

"And they got a tripwire rigged to some explosives." Kevin pointed to the tripwire nearby as well. "Looks like they went all out to greet us."

"Let us worry about it later." Sho advised Kevin. "For now, let us see if we can secure anything useful to us before we do something about the explosives planted on those trees there."

Chapter 3 END

* * *

><p>PS - Chapter 3's up and running, folks. I hope you guys found the conversation between Jill and Kevin okay since I plan to have similar scenarios like this where some of the characters get a chance to talk after killing off the plaga-influenced villagers and all. In the meantime, let me know how the chapter when you review prior to the next one.<p>

After this, I'll alternate with another chapter for Peacekeepers.


	4. Moving out

Resident Evil/Biohazard: Hostage Rescue

Rating: T

NOTE:

All characters of Resident Evil/Captain Commando/Street Fighter are under the copyright of Capcom. All characters of Martin Mystery are under the copyright of Marathon. All characters of Kara no Kyokai are under the copyright of TYPE-MOON. All characters of Spriggan are under the copyright of Hiroshi Takashige and Ryoji Minagawa. All characters of Jiraishin are under the copyright of Tsutomu Takahashi. The appearance of Kenneth "Kenny" Feng is under noctorro's jurisdiction. All others are under my jurisdiction.

Summary:

With Leon and the others safe and sound after being freed from captivity, Sho of the Commandos offered his assistance to lead the others out of the village before they ended up near an unknown house. What is inside that place? Will they be able to make progress in locating Ashley? Stay tune to this chapter to find out.

Chapter 4: Moving out

* * *

><p>Outskirts of Unknown House, somewhere near El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Leon and Kevin eyed the house near the well while Martin and Fujino proceeded to secure the Brass Pocket Watch over a well with the latter using her I-Cutter to cut the plank to cover the dirty water before the former began to grab it only for it to fall on top of the wooden 4x4 cover. If it weren't for Fujino, the watch would've been made dirty and it won't be sold to the Merchant for a high value. Yu and Jean searched the empty shack nearby, getting some pesetas.<p>

"Looks like that place is our next target." Leon told Kevin, pointing to the house with a dirt path ahead.

"I agree with ya." Kevin told Leon. "Only except that there's another tripwire with some explosives on the trees." He pointed to the explosives tied together with a wire in the middle.

"Great." The blonde DSO agent. "Can't they come up with something original than that?"

"I can handle that." Sho calmly strolled towards the trip wire and drew out his ninjato known as "Lightning Light". The ninja eventually stood in front of the tripwire and eyed the dual explosives carefully.

_Alright. Here goes nothing_. The Ninja Commando swiftly sliced the trip wire with his ninjato fast that Leon and the others were not able to get a good look at the weapon or how fast the ninja went to cut the wire, making the explosives trap useless.

"Whoa." Kevin whistled when he saw Sho do the job. "That was fast for a ninja. Aside from what I've seen in some ninja action movies lately..."

"I know." Leon nodded, in agreement with Kevin. "But that can at least help us move on." He gestured to everyone to gather around him. Kevin told Martin and Fujino to get near them as well.

"So what's up?" Martin said after he handed the watch to Tea, trusting her to hold on it until they can see the Merchant once more.

"We're heading up that house." Kevin told Martin and the others. "Could be our only lead."

"About that..." Dan told the group that foothold traps were also near where the tripwire was.

Tea smirked when she saw the foothold traps. "Not to worry everyone." The British Spriggan stared at the traps and within minutes, the trap's jaws snapped up in an instant.

"How did you do that?" Eriko asked, surprised that the traps were activated despite the fact that no one had stepped on them.

"Trade secret, my dear."

"The next time we see those in the way, we can lure the villagers in to step on them before we get in the killing blow." Hiryu suggested.

_Could be a good idea to do that next time. _"All right, let's go." Leon said as he led them towards the group.

"Apologies." Sho told the group. "I did not pay any attention to the foothold traps since I prioritized the disabling of the explosives trap."

"It's all right, master." Hiryu told the ninja. "We make mistakes from time to time..."

On the way to the house, the group saw the skull sign on the side. It still gave them the chills.

* * *

><p>L-shaped Hallway, Unknown House, somewhere near El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>The group went up the staircase to the house before they got inside the L-shaped hallway of the house. As they walked down and made a right turn, Leon gestured to the group to stop as something was blocking their way.<p>

"What's this?" Leon inspected the door that blocked their way. "Great, a puzzle?"

"What kind of puzzle?" Diana asked, looking at the strange door.

"Mind if I have a look?" Jill asked before she stepped forward, standing next to Leon while they looked at the door. It had two engravings of the Los Illuminados insignia on the door with a green circle-shaped thing in the middle of it. "Looks like a puzzle's being used as a security mechanism to protect the room of whoever's living here. A crystal ball."

"So how are we going to get inside?" Leon asked.

"Hey." Kevin called for Leon's attention. Once the latter turned around, the former told him. "I got some of the peeps to guard the back in case we're going to get some trouble."

"Good man, Kevin." Leon grinned and patted him on his right shoulder. "Thanks, Jill and I are going to check out the door here and see how we can get inside."

"Understood, Leon. Just don't get yourself lost in solving in that thing you hear? We don't have all day."

"Yeah, I know. The cult must've done this to delay our operation here in Spain."

Jill nodded, eying the green crystal ball. "Now do we go across this?" She placed her right gloved hand on it to see if it can move. Not to her surprise, the green circle moved a bit, making Jill check which direction it can go to. Left, right, up and down were the only places where she can move the circle.

_I see._

The ex-STARS operative to move the crystal ball around. No matter where she went to, the brown-haired woman noted that it showed a representation of the Los Illuminados insignia. But the circle did not fully show the insignia like it did on the two engravings.

"Looks like we may have to replicate the engraving on the circle." Leon told Jill after she moved the circle back on its original position, making it show the insignia from an overhead view.

"And so it seems." Jill replied to Leon's assessment. "Where do we move this icon from here?"

* * *

><p>Staircase, Unknown House, somewhere near El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Yu and Jean were seated on the staircase on the unknown house. Even though they needed a break, the two ARCAM Spriggans were vigilant in ensuring Leon and Jill were protected alongside the others while making sure no one was going for a sneak attack against the group.<p>

"I have a bad feeling about this." Yu told Jean, checking his HK G3A4 assault rifle. "Even with what Tea mentioned, I think something bad's going to happen to us as well even if we survive this mess."

"The word _if _needed to be emphasized a bit more, Ominae." Jean told Yu, his Franchi SPAS-12 shotgun slinged at his back. "I'm not scared of what the cult plans to throw at us."

"Oh yeah..." Yu grinned. "Especially when you have that... thing with you."

Jean raised an eyebrow while resisting the urge to smack the SPAS-12's buttstock on his left temple twice to make him unconscious.

"Whatever."

* * *

><p>At the bottom of the staircase, Sho began to tell Kevin and the others on what he had seen so far in the area. Among them Geki, an ex-Street Fighter competitor who left the match after losing.<p>

"You sure, master?" Hien was confused when the ninja told him and the other on Geki's presence. "But his clan's so secretive, why would he agree to work with the cult as a mercenary?"

"Times change, young one." Sho told him. "But you are right. I too am confused on the ninja's sudden change of heart."

"Do you who else is involved working for the cult?" Martin asked after he heard of Geki's involvement.

Sho nodded. "I have a few names so far, but I may miss someone since I've been infiltrating this area for a day when the Japanese government asked me to check on this place on behalf of the Americans."

"Never knew the PM thought of Los Illuminados as a threat." Hiryu heard Sho's answer.

"First of all," Sho began to tell the group. "among the mercenaries I've seen work with Los Illuminados is a Kei Amami. She's a known mercenary in the Japanese underworld who went underground for a short while when she botched an assassination job."

"You mean the Pure Wind Cult leader a few months ago?" Eriko asked. "HQ was really baffled when the job was messed up since a police officer was killed instead of the cult leader. We've been trying to track the suspect down with no luck back then."

Sho nodded. "There was someone else I spotted with her with Geki. I remember spying on two more people who I assume the cult had recruited for the kidnapping of Ashley Graham."

"Who are they?" Kevin asked the ninja, being curious as to who were working with the cult. _This can make our work a bit hard..._

"Well I know that one of them's the head of another anti-paranormal agency called the Creature Intelligence Hybrid Laboratory." Sho stared at Martin, Diana and Java. "I believe that some of you may be familiar with that organization."

Diana went pale upon hearing the CIHL.

_I thought that I won't hear that organization ever again after what they did to me._

"Are you alright, young lady?" Sho asked Diana, seeing that she was very nervous. "You're nervous about that name."

"I... just had some bad experiences with CIHL before."

"Does that mean that the head of CIHL, Octavia Paine, is also working with Los Illuminados?" Martin questioned the ninja after Sho confirmed the involvement of CIHL.

Sho slowly nodded. "I wouldn't be surprised if she's working with them."

"Then it's possible that she's in league with them to see if they can work together to create artificial biological weapons." Hiryu told everyone. "Dammit, this'll give the Center and ARCAM some headaches."

"And who is the last mercenary involved?" Cammy went to ask the ninja commando to see if he can give a definite answer.

The ninja sighed, clutching the tsuka.

"He's an ex-American special forces operative. As far as I'm concerned, he was supposed to be killed in a helicopter accident a few years ago."

* * *

><p>Control Room, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"ACHOO!"<p>

Krauser sneezed loud. Good thing that he was alone inside.

"I don't have a cold." The American mercenary frowned. "I heard that if this happens, then someone's talking about me."

_Nah. That can't be right!_

"It's probably something else."_  
><em>

* * *

><p>L-shaped Hallway, Unknown House, somewhere near El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Leon and Jill had the basic of the wall-mounted crystal ball figured out and its relation to the two engravings. Now all that they need to do is to figure the directions they need to move the circle in order to get an exact copy of the Los Illuminados on it.<p>

"All right, let's proceed with this." Jill said as she placed her left fingerless gloved hand on the circle. "I'll take the lead, Leon."

"Sure thing." Leon nodded. "After all, you're the master of unlocking."

Jill smirked. "Nice way of flattering my unlocking skills." She started to move the crystal ball by moving it upwards. "Hey." The woman pointed to Leon that the circle showed the icon from a different perspective.

"Doesn't look like the engraving." Leon said. "Better see if we can move the crystal ball to a different direction."

Jill tried again and moved the crystal ball to the right. "Right, the next turn should make the insignia look like the engraving here. I'll try moving this to the right."

When she moved the crystal ball to the right, the two noted that the wall moved out of the way and to the right to reveal a room.

"You get the others." Leon told Jill. She nodded and went off while Leon drew out his Silver Ghost.

* * *

><p>Unknown Room, Unknown House, somewhere near El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Leon went inside the room, sidearm drawn. Inside was a double size bed with an armoire next to it. On the wall was the frame of an unknown man with a hood to conceal most of his face, with the exception of his facial features.<p>

"Creepy guy." He lowered his weapon, seeing that no one hostile was inside. A few minutes later, Jill had the others brought inside the room.

"You guys solved the puzzle, I see?" Jean commented, looking around the room.

"Ain't that obvious." Yu told Jean, rolling his eyes.

"Who's that guy?" Chun-Li said, observing the hooded man's portrait.

"Good question." Leon told the INTERPOL agent. "I've sort of seen him in some dream I had after I was knocked out."

"Looks like he's the big bad of the day." Martin chuckled, eying the portrait as well.

"Martin..." Diana glared at her stepbrother, reminding him that there was no time to fool around. "Don't joke around."

"Least we can do is to search around and see if we can get something useful." Kevin told the group before he began to search the room for ammo or pesetas. The others did the same as well. Eventually, some pistol and shotgun ammo was found with some pesetas.

"I got this." Java told everyone, showing them a key that had the shape of the Los Illuminados insignia from a small chest box.

"Good work." Hiryu gave the thumbs up to Java, the latter handing it to Kevin.

"I found something." Fujino checked the bed, seeing a note. It was written in Spanish, so she handed it to Eriko in the hopes of finding out what was exactly written on it. The detective frowned as she went over the note carefully...

**As instructed by Lord Saddler, I have the agents in confinement, alive. Why keep him alive? I do not fully understand what the Lord's intentions are.I would, however, think he'd keep them separate; not confine them together as has been ordered. I don't expect Luis would trust a stranger, but if by chance they did cooperate, the situation could get a bit more for some reason, an unknown third party is involved, I don't think they'd let a chance like this slip. Maybe it's all Lord Saddler's ploy — leaving us vulnerable so that this third party will surface, if they even exist that is... It's an unlikely possibility, but if a prowler is already amongst us, then our plans could be ruined. I guess the Lord thinks it's worth the risk, if we're able to stop whatever conspiracy is at work. At any rate, it's the Lord's will trust his judgement as always.**

"The village chief is in league with the cult." Eriko told the group. "Based from the note, it seemed that we can expect more trouble. It's signed by Bitores Mendez."

"He's the village chief?" Hien asked Eriko, who nodded.

"Great. Ain't that nice?" Jean sighed. "I'd say we find this guy and pump him for information."

"That's if we can find him." Yu told Jean.

"Alright?" Leon asked after things were taken care of. Tea nodded, indicating that it was alright to move on. Leon approached the door next to the bed, gripping his Silver Ghost.

"Cover me." Leon told Kevin, who nodded while he aimed his Glock 21 Mariner pistol at the door.

Once the DSO agent saw his partner cover him with his sidearm, Leon got the door open before he aimed his sidearm at the hallway.

_Sooner than later, we'll need to figure out Mendez's specific agenda with the cult._

* * *

><p>Hallway, Bitores Mendez's House, somewhere near El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"All clear in the hallway, guys."<p>

Leon whispered as he opened the door before he lead the others to the hallway. _Too quiet. Way too quiet. _

"Over there."

Fujino pointed to Leon a painting at the end of the hallway. It showed a bearded man in his late 40s with black hair and a bald head. The group felt tense when they looked at the painting. It was as if it was looking down at them very carefully, watching their every move.

"Creepy." Diana whispered, looking at the painting.

"I'll assume that belongs to Bitores himself." Martin told Diana. "It looks cool though. I wonder if I can ask Billy to take it back home with us?"

Without any kind of warning, Bitores appeared behind the group and used his backfist to smack Hiryu and Hien to the wall.

"Look out!" Jean warned before the village chief kicked him towards the Center agents, Java included, onto the ground. Yu was attacked with another kick, sending him to the wall. Dan had drawn out his Eickhorn-Solingen KM2000 to attack the tall man when Bitores did a palm thrust at his face, sending him to the ground.

"Dammit!" Chun-Li tried to execute a Tenshou Kyaku before the tall man blocked it. Furious, the INTERPOL agent went for a Hyakuretsu Kyaku. Even though the bald man took the hits, he stood up like it was nothing.

"What is this man?" The agent said before Bitores went for an uppercut, knocking her out. Cammy charged in and went for a Spiral Arrow. Bitores grabbed her legs and used her as a melee weapon by swinging her towards Jill and Eriko, knocking them out cold. Afterwards, Bitores grabbed Leon and Kevin by their throats and lifted them off the ground.

Fujino had gotten her I-Cutter when Bitores coldly told her. "Don't try anything or they get it..."

The SHADOW agent gritted her teeth when Bitores eyed the two DSO agents carefully. While the two agents struggled, Bitores' interest was raised when he saw Leon and Kevin's eyes turn red.

_Interesting development we have here..._

When Bitores saw this, he released his grip on the two men and watched them fall down on the ground.

"You two carry the same blood as us, it seems." Bitores told Leon and Kevin. "Nevertheless, both of you are outsiders alongside your friends." The bald man began to threaten them. "Just remember. If all of you become unpleasant to our eyes," Bitores then pointed his right index finger to Leon, followed by Kevin. "your group will face severe consequences."

Leon coughed and tried to get some breath while Bitores exited the hallway, heading back to the room the group had used to gain access to the house earlier.

* * *

><p>Near outskirts of Bitores Mendez's House, somewhere near El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"It seems that they went over here." Kenneth told Ada after they arrived near Bitores' house, his USP Compact already drawn out.<p>

"So they went here after escaping from captivity." Ada said before he drew out her grappling gun.

"Ummm..." Kenneth asked, seeing Ada with the grappling gun. "Mind if I ask what you're going to do with that?"

Ada grinned at Kenneth's confusion. "You'll see, my dear."

Kenneth rolled his eyes at Ada's last words before she fired the grappling gun and launched herself at the house, positioning herself in front of the window that overlooked the interior of the room Mendez was in.

_So Mendez just went in? I wonder what happened prior to that?_

For now, the orphan just waited on the house in case Ada would later need him.

Not that she needed any kind right now._  
><em>

* * *

><p>Hallway, Bitores Mendez's House, somewhere near El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Kevin and Leon gasped in breath after they were dropped by Bitores. They were okay, but they felt the lingering pain of being nearly choked to death.<p>

"Kevin! Get the others helped out!" Leon told Kevin as some of the others were standing up with Fujino's assistance.

"Where are you going?" Kevin shouted at Leon, helping Chun-Li and Cammy to stand up.

"Taking care of things." Leon got the Silver Ghost from his shoulder holster before heading back to the room. Before he got in, Leon handed the Remington 870 to Kevin.

Hiryu got up a few minutes after he got a beatdown, helping Hien before he saw Leon get back in the room with his sidearm drawn out.

"What's he doing?" The SHADOW agent whispered to himself after he saw Leon enter the room. "Is he going after that bald guy?"

* * *

><p>Unknown Room, Bitores Mendez's House, somewhere near El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Leon began to search the room for any sign of Bitores.<p>

_Come on! Come on!_

The DSO agent could feel the adrenaline course through his veins when he got inside the room once again. Aiming the Silver Ghost left and right, it seemed all but clear. It seemed that the place was clear, but he was unwary if the man was around or just hiding.

_Where is he? Where the damn hell is he?  
><em>

Bitores attacked Leon by surprise, punching the agent from the side after the village chief had apparently been hiding to see if anyone was tailing him_. _Once more, the blonde man was taken down while being disarmed of his pistol. He felt Bitores step on his chest hard. Very hard that it was painful for him to try and get up in order to fight back. Leon fired his pistol, placing a hole on the forehead of the hooded man in the painting.

"Get... off... me!" Leon gritted his teeth while trying to get Bitores' leg and foot off his chest. The more Leon protested, it gave Bitores more fuel to the fire as he began to step on his chest harder than he did at first.

Until Leon heard three shots nearby, going for Bitores' chest. Seeing the bald man shrug the shots off and charge through the window to pursue whoever was responsible for putting bullet-sized holes onto his black trenchcoat, Leon gasped a sigh of relief as Bitores was no longer around to torment him.

"What was that?" Leon asked after he panted again and again to catch his breath as he began to get up from the floor.

* * *

><p>Near outskirts of Bitores Mendez's House, somewhere near El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Kenneth went to hide among the trees nearby the house as a precaution before he saw Bitores jump through the window of his house and onto the ground.<p>

_Shit! What is he? Some kinda superhuman? _The Chinese teen frowned. _Unless he's taken the plaga, if I heard it right from Krauser and Wesker_.

He crouched next to one of the large trees when he saw Bitores looking around. Unknown to him, the bald man went for a run to hunt down whoever was responsible for shooting him.

"Is he..." Kenneth whispered, looking at the running Bitores. Knowing that he may be in trouble, Kenneth opted to fade away while using the nearby forest to cover himself until he can regroup.

"Can't stay here. I better regroup with Krauser."

Kenneth frowned at this statement. _But I better make it fast. _

Once he was able to cover his tracks to get away from Bitores physically, Kenneth began to run down the forest.

_Hopefully I won't run into Ada for now..._

* * *

><p>Unknown Room, Bitores Mendez's House, somewhere near El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"You okay in there?"<p>

Kevin shouted after he barged in the room, seeing the broken window and Leon on the side.

"I'm all right." Leon said after Kevin handed the 870 back to him. "Just got some surprise help on the way."

"That's interesting." Kevin replied, raising an eyebrow at his comrade.

Leon nodded. "Yeah. So how are the others?"

"They're alright. Most of them about to go and check the end of the hallway to make sure hostiles are clear..."

"Right. We probably should start making contact with Hunnigan ASAP."

"I'll agree with you on that one, Leon."

* * *

><p>Hallway, Bitores Mendez's House, somewhere near El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>As soon as Leon and Kevin were back in the hallway, they began to make radio contact with Ingrid once more.<p>

**"This is Leon with Kevin. Do you copy over?" **Leon said on the radio as he began to initiate contact with Ingrid.

**"Loud and clear, guys!" **Ingrid replied on the line. **"You guys alright?"**

**"Don't worry about us." **Kevin reassured her. **"You got something for us, Miss Ingrid?"**

**"Well, I got some information that can be useful..."**

**"If it's on the cult, then we've been told beforehand by our friends from INTERPOL and the National Police Agency." **Leon told Ingrid in reply.

**"I see." **Ingrid nodded. **"Well at least I don't have to explain about the Los Illuminados and all..."**

**"Aside from facing against the honcho of the village." **Kevin told her. **"He's involved in the mix with Ashley's kidnapping as well as the mercenaries hired by the cult to possibly hinder us in our SAR efforts."**

**"You two are all right there, right?" **Ingrid asked Kevin.

**"We are." **Leon told Ingrid. **"But he let us live rather than getting us killed. Said some things about having the same blood."**

Ingrid was confused by what Leon had said. **"That is interesting."**

**"I'm sure we can figure that out later." **Leon told Ingrid. **"Right now, we got more important things to do."**

**"Right you guys. Hurry and find the church."  
><strong>

**"Understood. Agents Kevin and Leon out." **Kevin said before putting away his radio. As he did so, he noted that the others were waiting after checking the nearby cupboard for a red herb.

"We're done?" Yu asked the two DSO agents, waiting like the others.

Leon nodded. "Let's go."

* * *

><p>Forests, somewhere near El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>While Kenneth began to walk fast, he brought out his smartphone and began to make contact with Krauser.<p>

**"What is it, kid?" **Krauser's face and voice was seen on the smartphone.

**"I got together with Ada a while ago. Seemed that she was doing some stuff?"**

**"Like what?"**

**"I'm not sure," **Kenneth shrugged. **"but I saw her fire her sidearm into the house owned by Bitores Mendez."**

**"She WHAT?"** Krauser shouted in disgust. **"If he finds out that she's with us, it'll complicate our plans to secure the main Plaga from Saddler."**

**"Last I saw Ada, she took off and distracted Bitores by making him follow her."** Kenneth narrated on what had previously happened to Ada.

Krauser sighed, shaking his head before looking at Kenneth. **"Well, well. Least that tramp has her uses. Go see and find out if they moved Ashley around the village. Last I heard, she was supposed to be moved today."**

**"Right." **Kenneth sighed as well. **"I'll be on the lookout."**

_Dammit. This may also complicate things in helping Ashley escape. _Kenneth pocketed the smartphone. _I had enough of following Wesker for so long. If I'm going to help Ashley escape, I better do it before Krauser gets wind of it with the other mercenaries he recruited..._

* * *

><p>Dining Room, Bitores Mendez's House, somewhere near El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>The group had arrived downstairs from the hallway to the main dining room of the house.<p>

"Least we won't be hassled around here." Kevin said after he scanned the dining room. "Except for dust collecting around these parts."

"Seems they don't care for hygiene anymore." Diana said after she looked at the nearby dining table. "Is this what happens when you join the cult?"

"I don't think so." Jean told her. "There's probably something here that makes them do that." He looked at his right, seeing a short hallway with a door at the end near the staircase.

"Hold it." Jean told the group, approaching the door while aiming the SPAS-12 at it. Diana was about to stop him when Hiryu placed a gloved hand on her left shoulder.

"I trust the guy. And if it seems that there's something hostile behind that door, that I believe him."

Suddenly, Jean fired two buckshot rounds at the door and heard someone groan in Spanish. The French Spriggan agent took aim once again at the downed villager and fired a couple of more buckshot rounds at him.

"Die..." Jean murmured, seeing the villager groan in pain before his body dissolved away.

"I have a feeling that this is going to be a LONGGGG DAY." Martin said out loud as they began to search for anything they can take. Ammo, food. Whatever's not too heavy.

"Some of us will stand guard around here." Fujino told the group, arming herself with her own I-Cutter. Dan went to stand guard with Fujino while the others began to secure the dining room.

_Finally. We can use a break before fighting resumes. _Cammy sighed as she searched the oven in the kitchen, opening it to reveal a brown chicken egg.

A few minutes later, the sound of glass being smashed was heard when it came from the direction of the nearest cabinet. Leon had smashed it with the butt of his pistol to get an incendiary grenade. Pesetas were also obtained in the room.

"Looks like we're done." Kevin told Jill, seeing everyone getting anything they can obtain.

"Should we go now?" Jill asked the DSO agent.

Kevin nodded. "Yeah." He then approached the door next to the kitchen, porting the Steyr SSG P IV on his hands before he gently opened it.

"Looks clear..." Kevin murmured before he caught a sight of some hostile villagers outside. They were standing nearby and did not pay attention to the door being opened slowly. "Never mind. Hold it."

"What is it?" Jill said, leaning on the wall near the door.

"We got some customers waiting for us." Kevin whispered, peeking outside to check how many hostiles were standing.

"Problem?" Sho asked Kevin, approaching the door with his left hand placed on his saya.

"A lot." Kevin told the ninja before he shouldered the bolt-action rifle on his right shoulder. "But I can take care of it."

Peering through the Leupold scope, Kevin aimed the silenced sniper rifle at one of the villager's heads as he placed it between the door and the doorframe while leaving enough room for him to use the scope.

_Gotcha!_

The first shot rang true as the first 7.62 NATO subsonic bullet struck the villager at the back of his head. He went down on his knees and down on the ground.

"Alright." Kevin was quick to retract and push the bolt, reloading the SSG P IV before taking another shot at the second villager. He watched his head explode before being thrown on the ground, back first.

"Dammit." The brown-haired agent frowned. "I hear a damn chainsaw." He peered through the scope again to see a familiar villager with the sack over his head.

"Take this." Kevin fired the SSG P IV at the center of the forehead.

"Is he down?" Jill asked, her Beretta Px4 Type F pistol at the ready.

"Not yet." Kevin replied, seeing the chainsaw-wielding man get up from the floor. Snarling his teeth, Kevin fired his suppressed sniper rifle at the second Dr. Salvador down once again.

"I think we better go in hard." Leon advised Kevin, porting his Remington 870.

"He's down for now." Kevin told his partner. "But if you want to get in hard, now's the time."

"Ominae." Jean said, about to go out of the house.

"I still got some frags and incendiaries with me." The Japanese Spriggan agent told Jean. "I'll go and waste 'em on that chainsaw maniac."

* * *

><p>Outside Dining Room, Bitores Mendez's House, somewhere near El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Leon got out of the house after he shouldered the 870, approaching the downed Dr. Salvador. The blonde man emptied the shotgun at him when he began to get up, knocking him back down. Yu and Jean hurled whatever frag and incendiary grenades they saved up at Dr. Salvador.<p>

Leon covered his eyes and so did the two Spriggans after the grenades detonated near the man's body.

"Did we get him?" Yu murmured, aiming his Heckler and Koch G3A4 assault rifle at Dr. Salvador. Leon began to reload his shotgun after he previously emptied it.

After taking a huge amount of bullets, buckshots and grenades, Dr. Salvador slowly struggled to stand up on one knee

"Good." Jean raised his SPAS-12 and fired two more shots at the kneeling madman..

"Il suffit de rester vers le bas." The ponytailed man murmured after he calmly fired his second shot into Dr. Salvador's forehead after firing the first shot into his chest. Jean checked him out carefully after he went down on the ground.

"Just to be sure." Jean emptied the shotgun's magazine on the downed Dr. Salvador, hearing him scream in pain before his body dissolved.

"That's one crazy SOB." Yu muttered. "Good thing we stocked up on some of the grenades..."

"Tell the others that the coast is clear." Leon told Yu.

"Right." Yu ran back to the house and began to inform the others that the second Dr. Salvador was taken care of.

* * *

><p>Dirt Road, near Bitores Mendez's House, somewhere near El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>With the road near Mendez's house cleared off, it looked safe for the group to travel on by foot as the path would lead them back to the village where they first met before most of them joined forces.<p>

"For once we get to walk without meeting any hostiles out on the way." Martin said on loud. "Aside from the ones taken out earlier."

Tea raised an eyebrow at Martin, safeguarding the ruby Jean had taken from where the body of Dr. Salvador was. She grinned at him and wondered if more mad men like the chainsaw-wielding man would drop rubies by any chance, meeting with a glare from the Frenchman.

"Hold it." Kevin gestured to the group to stop. Shouldering the SSG P IV again, Kevin took aim at a lone villager outside a shed before he fired the weapon.

Another villager came in charging towards the group with a dirty kitchen knife while Kevin began to reload the rifle with five 7.62 NATO subsonic bullets onto the chamber.

"AAAAHHH!" The villager came in to almost stabbing Kevin on the chest if Dan intervened and raised his right arm.

"Ack!" Dan yelled as the kitchen knife blade went in his right arm. Hiryu came in and kicked the villager away from him. Fujino came in and helped Dan onto the side before she got the kitchen knife off his right arm. Cammy executed a double knee stomp onto the villager's head hard to ensure she won't be able to get up.

Leon gave Fujino the First Aid Spray and sprayed it on the wound.

"Thanks." Dan thanked Fujino before he accepted the mixed herbs from Leon, still wrapped in the cloth. The Malaysian began to down the mixture down his mouth and throat.

_So bland. Reminds me of the powered Chinese medicine back home. Shame that I don't have water..._

Dan noted that thanks to the spray with some help from the herb mixture that his wound was not bleeding. In addition, the wound had completely closed up as if it didn't exist in the first place.

"You alright?" Leon asked Dan while Chun-Li checked the shed to bust a crate with a kick to get a red herb.

Dan nodded. "I'm alright. Thanks a lot."

"No problem."

"I'll be back." Kevin told the group, walking down the path a bit to fire the silenced sniper rifle to gun down a trio of villagers standing near the gate with perfect headshots.

Seeing that no one was blocking the way, Kevin waved Leon and the others towards his position.

"I got the path cleared up." Kevin told Leon as he reloaded his sniper rifle. "But we better move. There's something blocking the gate up ahead."

"Thanks." Leon gave Kevin the thumbs up before he told the others.

Java was told by Fujino on the gate after spotting a wooden 4x4 used to bar the gate from the other side. The caveman nodded and walked up to the gate, taking off the 4x4 and tossing it to the forest like it was a piece of garbage.

Hiryu and Hien moved in towards the gate, taking positions behind them while Leon, Kevin, Jill and Dan aimed their sidearms at it. Once it was done, the two beret clad agents pulled the gate doors to the side.

"Let's move." Jill went to move in towards the grounds of the El Pueblo.

* * *

><p>El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"Hey."<p>

Chun-Li murmured after she went through the gate.

"We're back in the village."

Leon stood next to the INTERPOL detective and told her. "Which is perfect. I recall seeing a church building that the villagers used when they heard the bell. That's our next lead to rescue Ashley from the cult's custody."

Several villagers appeared from the other path of the dirt path, blocking their way.

"That's if we can get pass through the welcoming committee since they're eager to greet us with open arms." Diana told the group, pointing out the villagers about to run towards them with various farming tools.

"I'm getting tired of this..." Kevin muttered, hurling a primed frag grenade at the villagers. Leon also did the same thing and hurled a frag grenade to the incoming crowd. A few seconds later, the same hostile crowd was taken out by the dual explosions.

Eriko raised her Sig Sauer P228 and fired it only at a few villagers trying to get up. Kevin and Jill raised their sidearms to fire at the same hostiles as well.

Leon assisted the pistol wielders and fired his 870 at any of the downed villagers with Jean after he fired his SPAS-12 at them. After firing a few shots from the two shotguns, the bodies began to dissolve.

"Why didn't you help us there?" Yu asked Tea, who was standing by the side.

Tea frowned. "Since those villagers have no sense of individuality anymore, my techniques can't work on them."

"Looks clear." Martin said after seeing Leon and the others kill them before they took the time to reload their weapons. Dan went inside the shed on the side and busted crates open with the butt of his SIG Sport 552 compact assault rifle, only to find a flashbang. Aside from that, Leon and the others found some pesetas and gave them to Tea, who gladly accepted her role as being in charge of handling the money for the group.

"Let's move." Leon said after he slinged the 870 and instead, drew out the Silver Ghost. The group moved down the dirt path, passing by the fire pit.

"Up there." Hien pointed out two villagers on the roofs, about to hurl axes at the group.

"Got it." Leon and Kevin fired their pistols at the axe-wielding assailants, watching them fall on the ground. Sho dashed in and stabbed their heads before they could stand up.

"There it is." Kevin pointed the church with the insignia seal on the entrance, next to the tower.

Leon went up to the church, trying to open the door before he found out that it was locked. "Damn. It's locked."

"I got the key." Kevin approached the locked door and placed the key into the keyhole, turning it clockwise. A clicking sound was heard when it was done. "Perfect."

The door leading to the interior of the church was opened, earning nods of approval from the group.

"I'll lead." Kevin said, being the first to get inside before the others subsequently followed. Hiryu was the last to go inside before he closed the door of the church.

* * *

><p>Church, El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"Looks like it's clear." Leon said, lowering his sidearm when he saw that the only thing noticeable was a square-shared dining table with four chairs with a small box on top of two barrels next to a bookshelf. Jill brought out her combat knife and stabbed at the box nearby hard, seeing nothing inside. Jean tossed a box of pistol bullets in .45 ACP to Kevin after taking it from the shelf.<p>

"And it's not really a church building at all." Kevin remarked. "Not that I have anything against it."

Martin told Java that a door was up ahead, the former peeking inside after opening it slowly. He mouthed an "all clear" to the others.

"Let's go and have a look see on what's next door." Sho gestured to Martin to step aside before he kicked the door with his left foot hard. When the ninja looked inside, he saw a lamp was hanging overhead a trapdoor with a wick still lit up. Seeing this, Sho hurled some shurikens on the lamp and saw it crash near the trapdoor. Flames began to burn for a minute before it died down.

"Just to be safe." Sho told the others before he opened the trapdoor hatch slowly. Eriko approached it and aimed her sidearm down before giving the all-clear message to the others and passing the dropped Spinel to Leon.

"Master, are you going first?" Hiryu asked his ex-combat instructor.

Sho nodded before he dropped down the hatch. A few seconds later, Sho shouted above that the pathway was clear.

"Just be careful when you get down or you'll bust an ankle." Hien warned as he went down the hatch next to Hiryu. Leon and Kevin followed suit with the others following. Java nearly had a problem coming down the hatch. To solve this problem, Chun-Li assisted the caveman by pushing him down his shoulders.

"You alright, Java?" Diana asked Java, seeing some cracks on the ceiling. _Probably from the edges of where the trapdoor hatch was?_

"Java had hard time getting down."

"We'll it shouldn't be a problem now." Chun-Li told Diana, being the last to get down. "Hopefully it won't be the last."

* * *

><p>Pathway, Under Church, El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>The group were now on the passageway underneath the church in El Pueblo, which was literally carved from the earth. Candles were placed on both sides of the pathway on carved shelves to help anyone moving in the area to serve as illumination. As primitive as it sounds, it was the only way they can use to move forward since they don't have any skills or gadgets that they can use to light up the path ahead.<p>

Already the area was beginning to feel unsettling to some of the people like Diana.

"This place is very creepy." Diana whispered, feeling scared that the Center agent didn't want to separate from the others.

"Even if the candles should go out, I can still see the path ahead of us." Sho told the group, volunteering himself to lead them. "My Ninja Eye will see to that."

"Ninja Eye?" Leon asked Sho, following behind him.

"I can use it to see the path ahead aside from looking for hostiles from within 500 meters."

"Everyone stick together." Tea reminded the group, walking down the path in silence while staying on the alert for any hostiles. They walked up and down stairs while walking down straight paths at certain times. It took a long few minutes for the group to trek towards an opening with a small pool and a lamp hanging on top. Some of the others opted to rest after Sho brought the lamp down via shurikens to ensure it was not booby trapped without harming anyone. Tea used her psychic skills to bring down the shining Spinels from the ceiling. The British Spriggan agent also got the Elegant Headdress from the ceiling, which somehow baffled her as she kept it to sell to the merchant.

"Did you ever consider enrolling with DSO?" Leon said after taking the Spinels from Tea. "We can use someone with your skills."

"No thank you." Tea smiled at Leon. "But thank you for asking. I have my place with ARCAM."

After a few minutes of rest, the group continued on walking down a path Fujino had found, leading them to a narrow pathway before they came across two blue flame pillars. And a very, very familiar person.

"Ah..." The Merchant said after he caught sight of Leon. "I got sumthin' that might interest ya!" He began to open up his cloak, showing some of his weapons and items.

"We're glad to see you and all..." Hiryu said, being confused. "But how did you get here? Last we saw you was back up there in the surface."

"He, he, he..." The Merchant chuckled at the masked SHADOW agent. "That, my friend, is a trade secret." He then stared at the group. "Do you need to buy something from me?"

"Probably." Kevin approached the Merchant. "But we got some stuff that we want to sell to you."

The Merchant grinned and chuckled. "Of course. Of course. Anything that you got of value with you right now is acceptable." Tea and Leon gave the Merchant all the Spinels they had.

"It seems you've collected quite a lot." The Merchant remarked, pocketing the Spinels. "All right. I'll hand it 18,000 pesetas in return." He gave Tea a pouch full of pesetas, which she gladly accepted.

"Right." The Merchant sighed after handing Tea the peseta pouch. "There anything else you want to sell to me?"

"Indeed." Tea replied, handing the Merchant the Elegant Headdress and the Brass Pocket Watch.

"Ahhh..." The Merchant said, seeing the two treasures. "I'll gladly buy those two at a high price."

"It's a deal." Tea told the Merchant, seeing that he had no problem "purchasing" them.

"For the total, it's 23,000 pesetas." The Merchant handed another peseta coin pouch to Tea. "Finding a pocket watch like this is hard these days. I'm glad that you lot didn't find this in some dirty well or something or I'd only pay you lot 1,000 pesetas."

"Wonder if there is anything else we can get from the merchant?" Dan whispered to Hiryu.

"Ah, who knows?" Hiryu shrugged his shoulders.

"How are the First Aid sprays you bought from me?" The Merchant asked, wanting to know details.

"They worked out fine." Kevin told the merchant. "You shouldn't worry. In fact, they're a lot better than the ones made by Umbrella."

"Thank Tricell for that." The Merchant told the ex-SPF officer. "He, he, he, he. I only heard from my dealers that Tricell's spray formula was based on Umbrella, except that they worked it out to make the wounds heal a lot better and faster."

"Speaking of which," Chun-Li approached the water. "do you happen to sell any bottled waters?"

The Merchant listened to Chun-Li's question before he nodded his head slowly. "Course I do. You think the only thing I sell here are weapons, ammo and medical supplies, strangers?"

_YES! _The immediate though of everyone in the group was the sign of affirmation with a slow nod of their own.

"All right." The Merchant went to check his backpack and asked the group. "So how many need to drink water right now?"

* * *

><p>Church, outskirts of El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>A Spanish-made church stood on a hill on the outskirts of El Pueblo complete with a small cemetery in front on it. While observers may say that it is a Roman Catholic-based church, those in the cult know that the interior was renovated in order to serve the needs of Los Illuminados in worshiping the Plaga as their own god.<p>

_I can't believe that the cult used a church for their own needs. Then again, who am I to complain and question this? I'm trying to "help" them as a mercenary._

Kenneth stood outside the church, looking to see how the cult had secured the place. On the side, several of the villagers looked at him for a bit before they went on their business. They did not see him as a hostile they need to kill, unlike Leon and company.

"I didn't expect you to be around here, Mr. Feng."

The Chinese teenager turned around to see the hooded man, approaching him from the back. He noticed that the villagers bowed when he was around.

_Looks like he's the main guy behind Los Illuminados. _

"I didn't expect to see you here, either." Kenneth greeted the hooded man. "Mr..."

"I'm Osmund Saddler, head of Los Illuminados." Saddler introduced himself. "But please, feel free to call me Saddler."

"Of course, Saddler." Kenneth said, addressing the Los Illuminados leader as Saddler.

"I'm a bit surprised that you're here." Saddler stared at the Chinese. "I'd thought that you'd be with Mr. Krauser in the meantime. Not that I'm saying anything..."

"Krauser told me to check on things." Kenneth said. "Especially with the hostage. Not that he'd care since he's a mercenary."

Saddler was confused. "And why would Krauser want to do this?"

"Nothing really." Kenneth shrugged. "Probably except to see if this place is safe in case intruders were to make an appearance."

Saddler had a smirk on his face before he replied. "You have nothing to worry about. My followers will follow my every command, including the defense of this place to their deaths."

_I surely hope so, if you want to live on... _Kenneth raised an eyebrow carefully at Saddler's statement.

"But if you want to hang around and help with the defenses, then feel free to do so." Saddler walked away from the church, back facing him. "After all, it's one of the reasons I've hired you alongside Mr. Krauser and company."

Kenneth felt both a bit nervous and confused at the mysterious leader of Los Illuminados. The only thing that he learned from Wesker was that he wanted to rule the world by starting a Plaga-based invasion of the United States by infecting Ashley with a plaga before she would be "rescued".

At least, that was the supposed plan.

Kenneth went to look back at the church behind him. For one thing, he noticed that there was supposed to be a seal on the entrance in order to get it to open up. In the meantime, Ashley would be safe from harm unless Leon would come to the church area. He was told earlier by Krauser that she was being held up after being moved from El Pueblo.

"Should I stay or should I go to Krauser and tell him about the place?"

* * *

><p>Pathway, Under Church, El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Leon paid up the Merchant 100 pesetas for bottled water after the hooded man had sold it for 10 pesetas a bottle.<p>

"Nice to get one of these." Martin handed an open bottle for Java, who gladly accepted it. "I'm quite thirsty."

"I know." Diana said after she drank half of her bottle. "Not only that, but I don't think I've eaten for a day now."

"This concern is nothing for us." Yu grinned at Diana after he sat down on the ground. "Most of us are special agents and this thing's less of a problem. But right now... a break is nice."

"So what's the plan?" Cammy asked after she tossed away the bottled water. Littering would be one of the last few things the Delta Red agent would want to do, except that there was no trash can and no one would care if she threw the empty bottle away since the community didn't care about it anymore after they were placed under Los Illuminados influence.

"As usual, we need to continue moving on." Leon told her after he drank his bottled water before he paused in order to continue talking. "After our break, we'll need to get past that metal door there." He pointed to the metal door with his right index finger as he was leaning on the cavern wall.

"Who knows we're it'll lead us?" Hiryu said, relaxing on the wall next to Leon when he checked his Heckler and Koch G36C to make sure it was still okay. "A trap maybe?"

"Well we can't stop here." Hien advised him, holding the trigger grip of his Pindad SS-1M5 as it was slinged on his neck. "I don't think we can get help for a while..." The masked ARCAM Spriggan sighed. "Dammit..."

"I'll be taking my time to reload my weapon right now." Jean said as he began to reload his SPAS-12. "I'll be out of shells soon. Better ask Tea for some pesetas."

"Good idea." Yu went to check on ammo for his HK G3A4. "Oh wait, I forgot. I barely fired the thing 'cept for my P226."

Kevin sighed and went to get some ammo for the SSG P IV as he was running out of it; he had been using the silenced sniper rifle a lot to get the group out of hectic situations and it was proving its use. He passed some shotgun shells to Leon for his 870.

"Thanks Kevin." Leon gladly accepted the shotgun shells after he finished drinking up his water before he began to quickly reload the shotgun.

Fujino went to check the metal door nearby. When she turned the handle, the teenager moved the door forward to check the path ahead.

"All clear." She told the group, annoyed by the creaking sound of the door.

"It oughta be oiled up." Martin said. "If anything, that can give us away."

"Well don't you worry." The Merchant chuckled. "I can defend myself from here..."

Leon asked the Merchant. "Do you have something that you can use to defend yourself?"

"Well stranger. I got a Russian RPG-7..."

Chapter 4 END

* * *

><p>PS - Alrighty! Hope you guysgals enjoyed chapter 4 so far. I patiently await all reviews for this chapter, good or bad aside the other chapters in the story with Peacekeepers. Flames are going to be used for cooking my food and heating up my drinks.

Well it seems that Modern Warfare 3's official for a Fall 2011 release for the PS3. Oh yeah! I'm waiting for that ever since Modern Warfare 2, which had a satisfying ending but bittersweet ending for the good guys. But I feel like doing a fic based on MW2/3. Dammit! Ideas never stop coming to my head now that I've watched Licensed by Royal.

For the meantime, have a good time reading this chapter.


	5. Raise the Bar

Resident Evil/Biohazard: Hostage Rescue

Rating: T

NOTE:

All characters of Resident Evil/Captain Commando/Street Fighter are under the copyright of Capcom. All characters of Martin Mystery are under the copyright of Marathon. All characters of Kara no Kyokai are under the copyright of TYPE-MOON. All characters of Spriggan are under the copyright of Hiroshi Takashige and Ryoji Minagawa. All characters of Jiraishin are under the copyright of Tsutomu Takahashi. The appearance of Kenneth "Kenny" Feng is under noctorro's jurisdiction. All others are under my jurisdiction.

Summary:

Leon and company are now about to move in to secure Ashley from the hands of Los Illuminados. Will they be able to get her home or will trouble brew up once again? Stay tune to this chapter to find out.

Chapter 5: Raise the Bar

* * *

><p>Pathway, Under Church, El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Leon raised an eyebrow when the Merchant told him that he could sell him an RPG-7.<p>

"I'll keep that thought in mind. Thanks."

"Come back again, stranga..." The Merchant nodded when he saw Leon tell the others that they needed to move out once again. Kevin opened the metal door nearby and checked the corridor before gesturing to the others that it was clear.

"Come back again." The hooded man chuckled after he saw the group enter through the metal door.

_Now what am I going to do to pass the time around here 'til those strangers come back and seek my merchant services?_

* * *

><p>Corridor, near Church below ground, El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Leon and Kevin led the group as they traveled through a corridor once again. Like the time they went underneath the church-like building, no hostile villagers were on sight to intercept them.<p>

"What did the Merchant tell you about?" Kevin asked his colleague once they were in the corridor, taking the lead.

"Nothing much," Leon replied.

"Nothing?" Kevin raised an eyebrow.

"Well, he did say that he's open to selling a RPG-7."

"You're joking with me, right?"

The blonde man noted that Kevin didn't believe what he was told a while ago.

"There's a ladder." Leon decided not to answer Kevin, pointing out the ladder ahead. It was rusting away for one thing, showing its age. It had probably been placed there for many years now.

"How are we going to do this?" Yu asked, seeing that getting up the ladder to the surface was a potential death trap.

"I shall go up first." Sho said, offering to go up the ladder first. Thanks to his shinobi training, he was able to do so without a problem.

* * *

><p>Pathway, near Small Shed, outskirts of El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Sho got up back to the surface, surveying the dirt path ahead of him before he called out to the group back underground that it was all clear.<p>

"Thank you master." Hiryu told the ninja after he climbed up the ladder to the surface.

"Not a problem young one." Hiryu guarded the only exit out as the others began to climb towards the surface as well.

_I wonder if we'll have a break after that one..._

Sho's left hand held the ninjato's tsuka tightly.

"Be on your guard." Sho observed the graveyard up ahead. "Danger is up ahead."

"How can you tell?" Hiryu asked the ninja commando.

"I'm just good."

Chun-Li and Cammy were among the last to climb up from the underground to the surface.

"Anything?" Jean asked when he got to port his Franchi SPAS-12.

"He said there's danger up ahead." Hiryu used his thumb to point to Sho, who kept watch.

* * *

><p>Graveyard, near Church, outskirts of El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"What a scary sight." Cammy muttered after she arrived with the group to the graveyard.<p>

"No kidding." Diana muttered as well.

"I wonder what we're going to see here?" Martin said, very excited to see another graveyard like in much of his usual cases with the Center. "Zombies busting out of their graves? Some kind of monster who's going to jump out of nowhere to attack us?"

"What's with him?" Eriko whispered to Fujino, wondering what's with Martin.

"Martin-san is really like that, Eriko-san." Fujino told the detective. "He's into scary stuff ever since he got into the Center with his stepsister, Diana-san."

"Hm... I see."

"What's with the symbols?" Chun-Li pointed out some of the symbols on top of the gravestones.

"Probably a family symbol or something." Hien tried to suggest.

A female villager tried to approach the group from the side very slowly, carrying a rusted kitchen knife on her right hand.

"Great." Kevin muttered, raising his Glock 21 Mariner and fired a few shots at the knife-armed villager after he spotted her.

Leon, knowing that he was a bit near the stunned villager, moved in and executed a sharp roundhouse kick. He then used his Silver Ghost pistol to fire two more shots into the downed villager's head to ensure she was dead.

"Incoming!"

Hiryu shouted, pointing out two male villagers moving in towards them.

Jill and Eriko raised their sidearms and opened fire to hit their legs in order to make them keel over in pain, allowing Chun-Li and Cammy to rush in towards the villagers.

The former executed a Lightning Kick strong enough to snap one of the villager's necks from the impact that he dropped dead.

As for Cammy, the Delta Red operative went for a Cannon Spike. After seeing the other villager go down, she went to step on his head hard. A few minutes later, the bodies of the villagers melted into nothingness.

"That was quick." Yu sighed, porting his Heckler and Koch G3A4 before staring at the graves. "So what now?"

Kevin lowered his sidearm and went to check out one of the graves, seeing a S symbol on top of both graves.

"S?" The ex-SPF officer was confused. "Do this mean twins?"

"Probably." Martin said. He went off to check another set of dual graves, seeing a V symbol. Diana and Java went off to see another set with a M symbol. Some of the others went with them except for Jill and Eriko as they had searched the shack to get some 9mm ammo, giving the lone .45 ACP box to Kevin.

"You hanging in there all right?" Jill asked the Japanese detective after she reloaded her Sig Sauer P228.

Eriko placed a smile on her face. "Don't worry about me, Jill-san. Although I have to admit that this is an unusual case my superiors have assigned me."

"I know that feeling." The BSAA operative told Eriko. "Considering the things I've went though hell and back."

"You ladies alright?" Leon approached them after returning from inspecting the graves when Martin and Diana called for him a while ago.

"We're fine." Jill told Leon. "Did you find anything?"

"Perhaps." Leon shrugged his shoulders. "We found some symbols on the graves. Three to be exact."

"Symbols?" Eriko asked the DSO operative.

"We're aren't exactly sure. They could be family symbols but we're keeping them in mind in case there's some kind of puzzle we need to solve later on."

"So up we go." Dan pointed to the group a pathway that showed the way to the nearby church.

"Another church?" Leon asked the DSO agent.

"Yeah."

"Then what are we waiting for?"

Everyone in the group nodded as they went to walk the dirt path until a villager showed up with a stick of lit dynamite.

"Crap!" Kevin muttered. Yu instantly shouldered his G3A4 and fired a few shots at the dynamite-armed villager. He watched the 7.62 NATO bullets make their mark as the villager was shot in the right shoulder and on the forehead, going down before an explosion destroyed his body.

"Whoa..." Everyone covered their faces with their arms after hearing the explosion. They also heard the groans of two other villagers nearby as well.

"Good work." Hiryu complimented Yu for his work. "Looks like we don't need to worry about dynamite for a while..."

The group continued with their trek towards the church on top of the hill with Leon asking if anyone was hurt or injured.

"We're okay!" Jill told Leon after they made it in front of the church.

* * *

><p>Front of Church, outskirts of El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"This is the place?"<p>

Cammy asked when she looked all over the entrance of the church.

"I was told by that guy that Ashley's being held here supposedly." Leon replied to Cammy, also looking at the church entrance.

Eriko went to check out the church's entrance. Before she can even get in, the detective noted that there was no door handle for here to use.

"What's wrong there?"

Kevin asked the detective when he noted that Eriko did not touch the double doors.

"I don't think we can get inside." Eriko pointed out the doors. "And there seems to be some kind of socket where you have to insert an emblem. I think that it serves as a lock."

"Isn't that great?" Hien said sarcastically. "Now we need to find out where that emblem is and unlock the dang door..."

"Patience." Sho advised the young Spriggan operative. "When there is a will, there is a way."

"But where do you start?"

Diana went to check the metal door nearby and tried to get it open.

"Dammit." She muttered to herself. "It's locked."

"I could unlock the main door." Fujino suggested, about to get out her I-Cutter when Leon told her to stop.

"May not be a good idea." Leon advised the young SHADOW agent. "Let's go look for something." He then approached a dirt path leading to the side of the church.

_Hopefully something that can work out for us without being killed in the process._

The path Leon was on led him to the back of the church, where a couple of villagers were seen prowling nearby. One of them had a stick of dynamite.

"Shit..." Leon was quick to shoulder the Remington 870 after holstering the Silver Ghost, already loaded with a 12 gauge shell. He pulled the trigger after he aligned the weapon's iron sights, firing the shotgun. The DSO operative saw one of them stagger a bit backward.

With this in mind, Leon advanced a bit slowly before he fired another 12 gauge shell at the dynamite-armed villager.

_I'm getting tired of seeing dynamite._

He watched as the lit dynamite was dropped on the ground. It exploded, taking out the two villagers permanently. Leon was at a good distance away from the dynamite. He instinctively shielded his face, looking away from the explosion.

"Sure that was nasty for them." Leon murmured before he slinged the 870 on his right shoulder and rearmed himself with the Silver Ghost.

"What happened?" Jean said, being near Leon's back.

"Nothing really. Just got some villagers blocking the way."

"Hmmmm..."

* * *

><p>Rear of Church, outskirts of El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"What the heck is this pedestal doing here?"<p>

Leon saw a pedestal at the rear of the church, which had something mounted on top of it.

"Hmmm..." Leon approached the pedestal, aiming the Silver Ghost as he was not sure if anything would come to attack him. When he came close to it, the DSO agent saw a dial with something behind it.

"Something's behind the device." Leon sighed, holstering his sidearm. "And it's locked behind it. I wish someone would just give me an easier time here."

He began to check out the dial, which had seven oval-shaped button displays on it.

_Hey now. _Leon blinked his eyes twice when he took a look at the button displays. He noted that some of them looked familiar. Very, very familiar.

"They look like some of the symbols we've seen on the graves." Jean said, observing the dial.

"They do." Leon told the French Spriggan. "Where are the others?"

"Taking a short break outside the church."

"Right. Better solve this dial puzzle then." Leon told Jean. "I'll take care of this. I still remember all of the symbols we all saw back in the graveyard a few minutes ago. Shouldn't be a problem."

He began to start manipulating the clock-like puzzle while Jean guarded his rear.

"3 family insignia of the dead ringers." Leon murmured, reading the small insignia which was written somehow in English. _That's weird. Why is it written in English?_

Leon saw the green catseye gem that was hidden behind the locked gates.

"I wonder who put them there?"

Leon said to himself before he began to turn the dial. _Turn it over the three circles... _He then turned the dial, which did not stop until the dial arrow was over the V-shaped symbol. After the arrowhead was over the oval display, it glowed green.

"Green?" Leon was wondering why the oval display had glowed green after turning the dial. He then spotted another familiar symbol, which was the circle shape symbol.

"Another one there." Leon said, making the dial turn until the arrowhead was over the symbol. It glowed green as a result. He slowly nodded, knowing that most of the symbols he saw on the display were familiar.

"Alright. Let's go." Seeing the M symbol, Leon worked again on the dial and turned it until the arrowhead was over the symbol. "Looks like this thing can turn either three or four times."

_How much longer?_ Leon said as he checked the non-glowing symbols. _Better get rid of something since I can't get access to the "familiar" symbols._

Turning the dial until it was over the circle symbol and as a result, the glowing ceased.

"All right. Better get rid of this since it's blocking my way of getting the Z-like symbol." Leon murmured, making the dial move once again to the V symbol, making it cease glowing.

"Okay." Leon moved the dial once again until the arrowhead was over the Z symbol, watching it glow green. Leon nodded when he saw it.

_Okay. Once more. _Leon went to work the dial, making it turn until the arrowhead was over the V symbol.

The double gates opened up, enabling Leon to get a hold of the Green catseye.

"I got it."

* * *

><p>Front of Church, outskirts of El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"So you got that..." Kevin pointed to the Green catseye held by Leon. "I'm happy for you Leon, but I'm pretty sure that ain't going to help us get inside that church."<p>

Leon had gotten back to the rest of the group and showed them the catsye gem he acquired.

"We could probably use it for something..." Leon insisted.

"Like the Beerstein." Tea told Leon. "You can hand it to me. It seems that it'll work like the other catsye gem we have."

"All right." Leon nodded.

"So it seems we need to head down there." Jill pointed to the dirt path nearby leading downhill away from the church. "At least it's near the church..."

"I suggest that we split up." Sho told everyone in front of the church. "The thing is how many should stay and how many should go down the path and secure the key to the church's entrance?"

The ninja's question was genuinely a good one. Everyone felt that for this task, they would need to split so that they can protect the approach to the church from the villagers while the others would further search and secure the key needed to get in the church.

"You know... That is a good question."

* * *

><p>Unknown Control Room<p>

* * *

><p>"A pity that Jill had to be there..."<p>

Wesker mused to himself, seated on his hi-tech chair after he had received word before that among the people deployed to Spain was his old STARS "subordinate" from his Raccoon City days.

He began to tap some keys on his armrest, using the spy satellite to locate Leon's group in Spain.

"But it doesn't matter now." Wesker said after gaining an aerial photo of the group. "As long as she'll be out of the way from my plans to get Umbrella up and running, she can't do anything to stop me."

**"Krauser..."** Wesker went to make contact with the ex-American soldier. **"How are things on your end?"**

* * *

><p>Plank Bridge, near Church, outskirts of El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>It had been decided by the group. Leon would lead the group down the dirt path and onto the plank bridge. Accompanying him were Eriko, Jean, Hien, Dan and Sho. The others went to stay behind and protect their rear in case the villagers would show up to hinder their progress.<p>

Leon calmly raised the Silver Ghost and aimed the laser sight at one of the villagers, a female loitering on the plank bridge. He went for the left leg and fired off a shot. He subsequently saw the villager fall down from the bridge yelling in pain.

"That works." Dan told Leon after he had partially shouldered the SIG Sport 552 carbine.

"That way, we don't have to worry about prolonging a fight on this place." Leon told the SHADOW agent, leading the small group. "It's too dangerous and we don't have much room to maneuver ourselves in..."

The 6-man group continued on, walking carefully on the plank bridge until they saw two villagers blocking the way.

"I'll handle this." Jean told them when he shouldered the assault shotgun. Aiming the iron sights down at the villagers, the French Spriggan fired the weapon twice at them.

"Hmph..." Jean grinned as he watched them fall off the plank bridge like the first villager Leon shot in the leg a few minutes ago.

"A small gap on the plank bridge." Sho told the group as he saw the small hole. "Should be easy enough to jump over."

The group followed Sho's instruction. One by one, they jumped over the small hole without any problems.

"A small shack of some kind." Leon said as he went inside, noticing a piece of paper on it. "Dammit, it's in Spanish."

"Let me help..." Dan got to his O-Watch and went to activate the language translator, having a beam scan the entire letter before it presented the letter in English via hologram.

"What does it say?" Sho asked. Eriko and Hien gathered with Leon near Dan as he showed them the translated letter.

**Regarding the fugitives, the apprehension of Luis is our top priority: the agents a distant second. What Luis stole from us is far more important than the girl. Unless we get it back, the girl will become useless to us. We must get it back to execute our plan to the end. If it gets to the wrong hands, the world would become a totally different place than what Lord Saddler has envisioned. **

**At all costs, we must not let it happen. Nevertheless, we're not letting go of the girl. To ensure that the agents does not get to her, I have locked the church door where the girl is being held. Anyone who needs access to the church must first get approval from Lord Saddler. There is a key beyond the lake, but it should be safe now that the "Del Lago" has been awakened by our Lord. No one will get across the lake alive.**

**Plus, our same blood courses through the agents' veins. It'll be just a matter of time before they joins us. Once they do, there will be nobody else left that will come looking for the girl.**

"Great." Hien snarled in anger after reading the translated letter. "Now we've got a whole lot of trouble ahead of us..."

"Should we get the others?" Jean raised the question for the small group to ponder on. "We may need all the manpower we can get."

"We might..." Leon replied to Jean's question. "But I think it's best if we do that after clearing the rest of the plank bridge."

"I need some room." Sho told the group, telling them to get out of the shack. Drawing out his ninjato, he stabbed both small boxes. However, he saw that a snake was inside one of the small boxes.

"Heavens..." Sho said after seeing the snake, which was about to pounce on him. "Who placed a snake in there?" The ninja went to slash the snake, cutting it half before he saw the white Chicken egg.

"Better take this." Sho took the Chicken egg with him.

"What does Del Lago mean?" Dan asked. "I mean, I don't have any Spanish skills..."

"From the lake." Eriko told Dan. "It means From the Lake."

"Well what is from the lake anyway?" Leon led the group on the plank bridge once Sho got out of the shack.

"I wish I knew..." Jean mused as he and Leon took out one more villager loitering on the plank bridge with a pitchfork before arriving at the end, which had a door and a platform.

Dan approached the door carefully, opening the door slowly before he told the others it was clear except for the crows. Leon nodded and radioed to Kevin that he needed the others to meet him down at the dirt road and go through the plank bridge to do so.

* * *

><p>Unknown Area, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>When Leon regrouped with Kevin and the others, they entered through the door and saw several crows near some small huts.<p>

"Where are we?" Diana murmured, not familiar with the area.

"I don't know." Martin told his stepsister. "But we need to move and find the key to get in the church..."

"Let's move." Leon told everyone. "Kevin, cover me at the front. The rest of you with small arms, take the sides and rear."

"Will do, Leon." Kevin nodded, his Glock 21 Mariner pistol already drawn out. The two DSO agents went to search the huts, finding a Spinel with some pesetas in tow before handing them to Tea as usual. Afterwards, they went to check out the double barn-like doors and pushed them forward.

"This oughta be easy." Kevin grinned, seeing no villager in sight.

"I only wish..." Leon murmured.

* * *

><p>Dirt Path, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"Why does this place remind me of someplace we've been to?" Leon murmured after entering through the open gate. Sho had entered the shack nearby and secured some pesetas after he surveyed the path ahead and told them that it was all clear.<p>

"It's too fishy." Cammy commented. "Way too fishy."

"I probably will agree." Diana agreed with the Delta Red as the group walked down the dirt path. _I wonder if enemies are going to be around..._

The group had walked down the path for at least a minute when suddenly, they heard something big drop from behind.

"Dammit, the villagers." Kevin spotted some of the villagers from a high vantage point retreating after pushing a boulder down rolling from their rear.

"EVERYONE, RUN!" Sho shouted after he noted that the boulder was coming for them.

"NOT THIS AGAIN!" Hiryu shouted as well, running as fast as possible, not wanting to be squished alive by a boulder.

"Java getting tired on this!" Java yelled, not liking the fact that he had to run. In his time, he didn't recall that his fellow cavemen had to run. Maybe except from the mammoths.

The path the group was running on had a right curve, forcing them to make a jumping break there. Since they all did, the boulder smashed up onto the cliff face, breaking into pieces.

"Everyone okay?" Jill asked after she helped Chun-Li and Eriko get up.

"I'm fine." Fujino replied, dusting off her clothes.

"Me too." Hien replied, helping Dan and Martin up after jumping to the ground.

"More enemies." Kevin muttered, immediately shouldering the Steyr SSG P IV and checked out the area. "And the main path's wired with dynamite, but I clear it out."

"But won't we attract attention?" Martin asked Kevin after he was armed with the sniper rifle.

"Do it, Kevin." Leon told his colleague.

"Right." Kevin began to check the main path. "A villager's there standing near the dynamite. While it's suicide, I guess he doesn't care." He then checked the small shack nearby. "A villager's in there too. Probably waiting in ambush."

"What about over there?" Yu pointed out another villager just standing around in the small pond on the side.

"I'll check that out." Kevin scoped the villager standing on the pond. "Another one too. Standing in front of wired dynamite. Man these guys are really suicidal."

"I think we all know that." Cammy told Kevin.

"Just had to say it." Kevin turned his attention to the villager in the shack. He fired off a shot from the suppressed sniper rifle at the villager at the chest, seeing him go down. Seconds later, he saw the villager up and made a charge through the main path, setting off the dynamite trap.

"What the..." Jean said after hearing the explosion. "Boy, that was incredibly stupid of him."

"I doubt they have the concept of safety anymore." Kevin told Jean before he took aim at the villager standing on the pond. He fired a shot at the chest, watching him go down. Later on, he saw him made a mad charge to the dynamite trap.

"Another idiot." Yu sighed after seeing the second dynamite trap go off.

Kevin moved a bit forward and glanced at the left, seeing two villagers near another dynamite trap. He took aim and fired at the villager standing at the back of the trap before the man reloaded, watching him run to the trap. Since he "tripped" on the wire, the trap blew up and killed both of them.

"Least they saved us some time so that we don't need to disarm the traps ourselves." Leon said out loud after seeing what had happened. "We split up so that we can cover more ground and get any of the villagers who may still be hiding around here."

"Right." Kevin gave Leon the thumbs up. "Come on you guys."

"I hope I don't get in the water." Diana mumbled.

"That part's exciting, Di." Martin grinned at her. "I bet we can find some kind of other monster living in the water."

The party turned around after hearing some feet shuffling very fast. A crowd of villagers were running towards them.

"Incoming!" Yu and Dan hurled a couple of frag grenades towards the crowd. They then fired their weapons on the downed survivors to finish them off. A few seconds later, another wave arrives. Sho used his smoke bomb attack to disorient them before he began to use his ninjato known as Servant Sword to cut them up real good.

"HA! HA! HA!" Sho executed several ninjato strikes at most of the villagers, killing them one by one, followed by a high roundhouse kick onto one of the villagers trying to impale him with a pitchfork. He landed on the ground after the villager's neck was literally snapped thanks to the powerful kick.

"We gotta go..." Leon told Sho, heading towards the wooden platforms.

* * *

><p>As agreed upon by the party, Leon and Kevin would take the wooden platforms alongside Eriko and Jill. Sho, Hiryu and Hien would scout the water as one group with Yu, Jean and Fujino as the second group. Martin, Diana and Java would rear cover support to Leon and Kevin with Cammy in case some stragglers were to sneak up behind them.<p>

Thing seem to be good...

* * *

><p>On top of cliff, near Dirt Path, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Kenny had been keeping an eye on the party via binoculars, watching their every move ever since they left the church grounds due to a problem in getting inside without the proper key.<p>

"I hope Krauser doesn't check in right now..."

The Chinese national and now covert operative continued surveillance on the party as he watched them prepare to cross over the wooden platforms.

_Don't die on me Leon. Same goes with you, Kevin and Ms. Valentine._

* * *

><p>On Pond, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>As agreed upon by the party, they would split up into small teams in order to effectively scout the area in and around the pond while eliminating all villagers waiting for them in a potential ambush or trap. Leon and Kevin would be accompanied by Eriko, Chun-Li and Jill as they secure the wooden platforms built over the pond.<p>

Sho would lead one of the two smaller teams alongside Hiryu and Hien with Dan and Cammy providing assistance. For the other team, Martin, Diana, Fujino and Java would search another section together with Yu and Jean. So far, so good. Things were going well with initial searches leading to no enemies...

"Ugh. Water." Hien complained. "Of all the terrains to operate in , why water?"

"Do not complain, young one." Sho had reprimanded the young Spriggan operative. "Think of this has a means of testing what you have learned from your elders."

"Apologies for what my brother mentioned, master." Hiryu told the ninja. "I am sure that he did not mean that..."

"It is all right." Sho shook his head. "We have other things to worry about after all."

"Hopefully we won't have to see anything around these parts." Cammy commented.

"I probably will have to agree."

* * *

><p>On the other hand, Martin was quite excited in hunting down any potential hostiles with Java standing next to him. Diana groaned in watching her stepbrother "call for" the enemy's attention.<p>

"Are those Center agents always like that?" Jean asked Yu, porting his SPAS-12.

"I honestly don't know." Yu shrugged his shoulders, porting his G3A4. "But intel says they got a good reputation in handling paranormal things." He then stared at Martin. "I think he's one of the exceptions."

A villager had been hiding under the platform, moving out to attack Martin and company when Jean took aim and fired the shotgun as a semi-automatic weapon. Tea did not say anything, staying silent.

"There still are stragglers hiding around this place." Martin mumbled, having the X-Rod materialize from the U-Watch.

Diana raised up her fists. "Yeah. No kidding."

It didn't long for Jean to finish his work.

"No need." Jean smirked. "He's done for."

"Then that means we probably got some more on the other side as well..."

"Up there." Tea pointed to a nest on the trees. "Something is hidden in the nest."

"All right." Yu nodded, firing a single shot from his G3A4. A pipe fell down from the nest and onto solid ground. He picked it up and gave it to Tea.

"How interesting." The psychic smirked._  
><em>

The group led by Martin could hear some commotion and gunfire going on from Sho's side.

* * *

><p>"SMOKE BOMB! SMOKE BOMB!"<p>

Sho shouted out loud when he saw four villagers approaching him from all sides. He told the Spriggan agents not to bother initially since he had used his smoke bomb to disorient the armed villagers at first.

"Dammit." Hiryu muttered after he shouldered his G36C, aiming the reflex red dot sight at one of the disoriented villagers and fired a short burst through his carbine. He saw the villager go down after being shot in the head.

"Okay." Hien saw what his brother was doing, shouldering his Pindad SS1-M5 Commando carbine and fired as well at the disoriented villagers while they were confused by the smoke bombs. Most were down, except with one who was trying to get near Sho.

"Heh." The masked Spriggan agent smirked, his facial features hidden underneath his balaclava. "Just like in a shooting range."

"Look out!" Cammy dashed in towards the last villager, trying to use the sickle by stabbing the ninja's neck.

"EIYAH!" The Delta Red agent went toe execute a Cannon Spike, kicking him underneath the chin followed by an Axle Spinning Kick, striking him again before the villager went down on the ground completely.

"Just to be sure there." Hiryu approached the downed villager and fired a short burst at him.

* * *

><p>"Are we clear?" Leon shouted with his Silver Ghost drawn out after hearing gunfire from his allies.<p>

"I hope it'll be the last of them." Jill muttered after she got out her Beretta Px4 Type F pistol from her holster. "God knows how much ammo we need to conserve."

"I don't think so people." Kevin replied to Leon and Jill's concerns. The four-man group continued to walk down the platform with their sidearms drawn out when they spotted another dynamite trap ahead of Sho's group.

"Right, I got this." Kevin shouldered his SSG P IV and scoped the two villagers standing in front of the trap. He began to reload this sniper rifle before the DSO agent fired a suppressed shot at one of them. It made him mad and he charged straight for the trap, stunning the other villager for a few seconds. This gave Kevin enough time for him to fire another suppressed shot, aimed at the other villager's head. Kevin peered through the sniper scope as the villager's head exploded.

"Got him." The man smirked after seeing the villager's lifeless body go down. "Now we don't need to worry on another dynamite trap." But as the group continued on, there was a dead end and the only to the other side was a stairway going to the water.

"Hope you guys don't mind getting a little bit wet here." Leon told the group before walking down the stairway and into the water.

"I just wish I don't get sick later." Eriko sighed as she went in the water with Leon. Kevin and Jill followed to secure their rear. Good thing for them like the other two groups in the water, it only reached up to their legs. Leon led the others to get to the other platform, getting up the steps. Sho and Martin got their groups to the other platform as well.

"I see someone there." Sho told Leon, seeing a villager standing a few meters away from the last dynamite trap. Hiryu passed around some shotgun and pistol ammo boxes they found from the downed villagers.

"Can't they get anymore original than this?" Dan sighed. "Reminds me of the stuff I've heard in guerrilla warfare."

Sho hurled a shuriken to the villager's head, making him drop the pitchfork. He then saw the villager come running at him, detonating the trap after the villager tripped it by pressing his body on the wire.

"Looks like it's an all clear." The group was now in the clear.

"Yo." Yu tapped Jean on the shoulder. "Over there."

Except for a shack on the side.

"Let's do it."

Hiryu and Hien nodded in unison as they stacked up outside the shack, assault rifles at the ready before they stormed the shack. Taking the unarmed villager, the two masked teens began to pepper the villager with several 5.56 NATO bullets before he eventually succumbed to his injuries.

"All clear!" Hien shouted as he and Hiryu reloaded their weapons. Except for a box of pistol ammo and a hidden snake inside the crate, which they smashed open with their combat knives, the place was clear.

"We better move." Leon said after Hien handed him the pistol ammo box. "Thanks."

The group proceeded to walk along the path until they were confronted by big and tall steel gates. Java once more used his caveman strength to open them, enabling everyone to pass through.

* * *

><p>MOM's Office, The Center<p>

* * *

><p>MOM had waited for Billy to show up, a few hours after being dispatched to conduct an investigation whether equipment malfunction was to blame when the two SHADOW agents were covertly inserted into Spain via aircraft instead of portal.<p>

"Billy."

MOM noted the alien's arrival via hoverchair after exiting out of the elevator.

"Has there been any word on what caused the malfunction to our portal equipment?"

Billy nodded. "I almost thought that it was equipment malfunction." He then showed her an electronic handheld tablet. "Until I found this."

MOM nodded slowly, being interested in Billy's reply.

"Some of the circuits we found in the equipment were badly damaged." Billy began to explain. "It's as if someone knew what he or she was doing to them."

The black-haired woman sighed. "Can we have them immediately replaced, Billy?"

"I just had the request made." Billy replied. "But we won't have them for a while until a few days."

"We better operate under the assumption that someone's trying to sabotage our operations." MOM told Billy. "Tell the Special Reaction Squad that they need to secretly bring the culprit in, depending on how things will go with Martin and the others back in Spain."

"Understood, MOM. I'll get on it."

* * *

><p>Another Dirt Path, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>The party had just went through the gate when they saw that at the end of the dirty path, it branched out into two different dirt paths ahead. This left the group a bit confused on where to go next.<p>

"Where do we go from here?" Jill asked out loud, seeing the two paths ahead.

"We can split up." Martin suggested. "Have a few of us check out one of the paths while the majority of us head out to the other one."

"This may be the only course we have." Chun-Li told Leon and Kevin. "Considering how grave our situation is."

"We'll volunteer for this." Hien said, patting Hiryu's left shoulder.

"Same here." Yu said as well. Jean merely grumbled, but he was ready to support his Spriggan comrades if he has to.

"All right." Leon nodded. "But be sure to contact me or Kevin by radio if you guys spot anything significant. Got it?"

The beret-clad teens gave the thumbs up before they got Yu and Jean to come with them.

"You think they'll be alright?" Kevin asked Leon, seeing Fujino run off to join up with the Spriggans.

"I'm sure they'll be okay. Considering what I've seen with them so far."

"We better go then and secure the right path then." Cammy told the remaining party members. "Seeing as they'll secure the left path, it's best if we check out what's on the other side."

"Agreed." Tea said, sharing Cammy's sentiment. "As well we won't be wasting time while we wait."

The others nodded in agreement with Cammy's suggestion.

* * *

><p>Left Dirt Path, away from main Dirt Path, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"All clear here!"<p>

Hiryu shouted as he told the group via hand signal that it was clear to proceed ahead. The two masked teens went ahead as the vanguard with Yu and Jean covering the rear. Fujino stayed in the middle, but was armed with her I-Cutter that appeared in the shape of a tanto.

"Anything up ahead?" Fujino decided to ask.

"Nothing." Hiryu told Fujino, running up the path alongside Hien. The two eventually saw a dead end, but it gave the small group a good view of the lake ahead.

"Get down..." Yu said as he dashed alongside Hiryu and Hien, getting prone. The two crouched in front of an old log. Jean was on their left while Fujino alternated between scoping out the lake and looking at the rear to make sure no one unfriendly was going to sneak up behind them.

"What's up?" Hiryu asked as Yu took out a pair of military-type binoculars and went to zoom in on a boat that in the middle of the lake.

"Holy shit..." Yu muttered. He saw two villagers hurl out of the boat one of the two corpses belonging to the Guardia Civil officers who had escorted Leon to the Pueblo before all hell broke loose.

"What are they doing?" Jean muttered as well. "Those bodies are floating on the water."

"Hey." Fujino then told Yu and Jean, kneeling next to them after hearing what they had said. "They're leaving..."

"Let's see what happens next." Hien suggested as the group waited. A few minutes later, they saw something emerge out of the lake. Something big.

"What the hell was that?" Jean was in shock when he saw the creature devour the two dead Guardia Civil officers from the lake's surface before it descended back into the deep.

"We need to head back ASAP and warn the others about what's in the lake." Hiryu told the others before he stood up and ran back down the hill. "There's nothing we can do for those dead officers except to make sure their deaths are not going to be made meaningless."

Fujino lagged a bit behind as she spotted some red leaves in the bushes.

_Hm? _The Japanese SHADOW agent walked towards the bushes and picked up a red herb.

* * *

><p>Right Dirt Path, away from main Dirt Path, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Leon and the others saw Hiryu arrive back as he ran towards them. Hien and the others including Fujino were also running as well. The second group were waiting near the shed at the end of the right dirt path when they heard something come out of the lake before it was all calm once more.<p>

"Did you guys find out anything about the lake?" Tea asked Hiryu once she saw him.

"Yeah." Hiryu nodded. "But that's not all."

"Is there something in the lake as well?" Chun-Li questioned the Center/Spriggan agent.

"There was." Jean was calm, despite what he had seen in the lake. "The two remaining corpses of the Guardia Civil. They became food for whatever's lurking in the waters."

"Del Lago." Eriko told the assembled groups. "It is probably Del Lago."

"This is just great." Leon sighed, scratching the back of his neck. "One of the few things we need. A giant sea monster blocking our way."

"We found a few things as well." Tea told the first group. "Aside from herbs and a gold bangle with pearls on it."

"Here." Fujino showed everyone the red herbs she obtained.

"I can handle that." Leon took the red herb from Fujino. "Thanks." He began to take out the yellow herb his group found in a shack down near the end of the right dirt path. "I'll go take care of this."

"So what's the plan for crossing the lake?" Cammy asked the group. "Now that it's confirmed that some big sea monster's waiting to catch anyone trying to cross it alive and become monster food."

"We'll need to take out Del Lago anyway." Kevin answered Cammy's concern. "Whether we like it or not. It's not like we can just evade it and get to the other side of the lake without being caught out in the open."

Yu and Dan went to check out if there were any boats in the harbor for them to use. Meanwhile, Leon gave Kevin a tied up piece of cloth that had the red and yellow herb mixture.

"I'll hang onto this." Kevin told Leon as he began to make a radio call to Ingrid back in America.

**"Hey, Hunnigan. I got some updates regarding the missing Guardia Civil officers."**

**"What about them, Leon?"**

Leon took a deep breath before he replied to Ingrid's question.

**"The bad news is both of them are already dead. Most likely killed by the crazy villagers like the first two we found in a bonfire."**

**"I see." **Ingrid sighed after she heard the news. **"This'll be bad news for the Spanish government when they hear about this... For now, see what you can do about securing Ashley Graham. I'll inform the people at DSO on this."**

**"Understood. Leon out."**

"We got two boats!" Dan called out to the party. "You may want to look at them first."

* * *

><p>End of Right Dirt Path, away from main Dirt Path, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Dan led the party to the end of the right dirt path, showing them two motorboats. While the wooden construction looks to be really old, the Malaysian SHADOW agent informed them that the motor was still okay.<p>

"So how many people can get on the boats if I can ask?" Leon asked, inspecting the boats for himself.

"Well two people would do." Dan said before he sighed. "But I guess three to four people can also work, but the guy in charge of steering the boat will need to move so that we don't fall off the boat and drown."

"But with this Del Lago thing out in the waters..." Sho told the party. "We will need to get rid of it before we can even have a safe journey above the waters."

"He has a point." Diana agreed with Sho's assessment.

"Since we have two functioning boats here..." Yu began to speak to the party. "Why not use one of them to face the creature while the other runs backup in case things do wrong?"

"I'll volunteer to go with the kid here." Kevin said, patting Hiryu's left shoulder for emphasis. "Hope you don't have a problem with that."

"Not really." The SHADOW agent sighed.

"I'll run backup here." Leon volunteered. "In case things happen."

"Same here as well." Diana said as well.

"Guess we're all set and done." Hiryu cracked his knuckles as he got on the first boat on and turned on the motor while Kevin got on board to check if the boat has any weapons for him to use against Del Lago.

_Gotcha. _The DSO agent grinned when he found a weapon that he can use against Del Lago.

Harpoons.

They were not that plentiful, but they're enough to deter Del Lago if it should try to attack them.

"Take these." Kevin and Hiryu handed their assault carbine and sniper rifle to Hien. "If the Del Lago thing's going to attack us, these may get in our way."

"Understood. I'll hang onto them 'till you guys give the all clear."

* * *

><p>"You think they'll be all right?"<p>

Eriko asked as she watched Kevin and Hiryu take off in the first boat, scouting the lake for any signs of Del Lago before they would eventually take it on.

"I'm sure they will be fine." Sho tried to reassure the Japanese detective, arms crossed and placed near his chest. "I've trained young Hiryu and Hien to be at their best. I am confident that he can handle things."

Yu crouched, also scouting the lake's surface with his binoculars in case there were things that the two didn't notice.

_Come on Mark. Don't die on us out there._

* * *

><p>Motorboat, on lake waters, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"Seems awfully quiet out there."<p>

Kevin mumbled as he handled the first harpoon he can take. Hiryu was seated at the rear of the motorboat, navigating it by steering the rudder left, right or just letting stay still when they need to steer the motorboat straight past debris.

"It's way, way too quiet. It's probably just waiting for the right opportunity to get us both."

Unknown to the two of them, Del Lago was swimming underneath the motorboat as soon as it detected something move along the lake surface. A few seconds later, it began to jump and splash in front of Kevin and Hiryu, making the boat jump also before it landed back down on the water.

"What the fuck is that?" Hiryu said, gripping the motorboat engine as a first reaction. Kevin grabbed onto the wooden seat he was on.

The two failed to take notice that the hook fell down to the waters. It then got hooked onto Del Lago's tail, forcing the motorboat to move along with it.

* * *

><p>End of Right Dirt Path, away from main Dirt Path, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"What's happening to them?"<p>

Sho asked after he saw what Del Lago had done.

"I think the motorboat's hook got caught onto it." Yu told the ninja. "For the meantime, they'll have to navigate with it or they'll be monster food in case they'll go down in the waters."

"Do we go and assist them?" Diana asked Leon, who was more than ready to get the motorboat engine started up.

"Not yet." Leon told the Canadian Center agent. "Back when the RPD was still around, Kevin's one of the best marksmen out there. Even when he got to the SPF. I'm sure he can handle this."

* * *

><p>Motorboat, on lake waters, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"HA! Take this!"<p>

Kevin shouted as he threw a harpoon into Del Lago. He watched the creature bleed after the said harpoon pierced its skin.

"Careful now!" Hiryu shouted as he steered the motorboat away from the various debris in order to avoid crashing into them. Kevin continued to hurl harpoons into Del Lago until it forced the motorboat to take a sharp jerk to the left as it made a fast dive.

"You okay?" Kevin asked the masked SHADOW agent.

"Never better." Hiryu gave the thumbs up. "We got company though."

"Take a harpoon." Kevin handed Hiryu a harpoon. "And start chucking them at Del Lago like no tomorrow."

The two began to hurl harpoons at Del Lago many times, watching blood spurt out of the creature before it dived underneath the motorboat. Followed by another trip where the two had to navigate thanks to the hook still being hooked onto Del Lago's tail.

"I think I'll get seasick." Hiryu murmured, controlling the motorboat while leaving the harpoon hurling business to Kevin. His hurls were accurate and since they were doing the job, Del Lago was beginning to slow down before it dived down.

"Well. Looks like Del Lago placed us in area of the lake where there's not much debris." Kevin commented, gripping a harpoon with his right hand.

"Thing is where is it going to come from?" Hiryu asked the DSO agent, looking around the lake and saw lots of water and not the small harbor where they took off from.

"Better keep your guard up." Kevin advised Hiryu as they began to look around carefully.

_Dammit. I don't know if being here without seeing your enemy is worse than being off your guard without knowing of a big test tomorrow back in school._

Kevin then spotted Del Lago charging towards them. At least he can see the open mouth meant for him and Hiryu.

"Over there!"

Hiryu saw the incoming creature heading straight for them.

"Chuck the harpoons at it!" Kevin shouted as he went first to toss the first harpoon as far as he can towards Del Lago's open mouth.

_Yeah._ He saw that his work paid off when blood began to spurt out from the mouth. However, Del Lago was not running.

"Better hurl out more of this." Hiryu said as he landed another harpoon at Del Lago's open mouth. "I wish I had a box of frag grenades so that we can kill it faster..."

Kevin hurled Hiryu in chucking more harpoons. But they needed to do it fast as Del Lago swam closer and closer. Before it could even bite the motorboat, Del Lago swam underneath it.

"Oh brother!" Kevin shouted as the motorboat went for another ride.

"Del Lago's bleeding!" Hiryu told Kevin as Del Lago spurted blood from its wounds. "Looks like the harpoon worked!"

"No need to tell me that twice, genius!" Kevin smirked as he grabbed another harpoon and hurled it at Del Lago's rear. "Oh yeah!" He shouted when he saw the harpoon pierce another part of the creature's rear.

* * *

><p>End of Right Dirt Path, away from main Dirt Path, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"How are they doing out there?"<p>

Leon asked the Japanese Spriggan agent while he conducted surveillance on the battle.

"They seem to be doing just fine." Yu replied to Leon's question. "Although I think your friend's having a lot more fun handling Del Lago than my comrade."

"That's Kevin for you." Leon sighed. "I bet he's boasting how a good shot he is in dealing with the creature."

"Aside from the fact that Del Lago's trying to make them dizzy? Not much."

Leon took out a pair of binoculars and joined Yu in observing Kevin and Hiryu's fight against Del Lago, hoping that the creature can be killed off.

* * *

><p>Motorboat, on lake waters, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"Hang on to your seat!"<p>

This was the warning yelled out by Hiryu as he tried to countersteer the motorboat against a pile of debris as the Del Lago began to take the two on a wild ride that may have made an ordinary man develop a fear of riding a boat.

"Why don't you stay still, you son of a -?" Kevin yelled out as he hurled another harpoon towards Del Lago's tail. He was lucky as it was the only place where he didn't get a good shot with the harpoon. But this time, he was able to do so.

"EASY! EASY!"

The SHADOW agent shouted at him. "Don't get carried away there!"

"This ain't a problem after all, man! I tell ya..."

Suddenly, the motorboat was smacked by Del Lago, sending the two of them into the lake waters.

"Ah shit!" Hiryu yelled before he fell into the waters first, followed by Kevin.

* * *

><p>End of Right Dirt Path, away from main Dirt Path, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Everyone in the party went to get a closer look at the lake to see what was going on after seeing the boat overturned, but not too near for the possibility of Del Lago's attempt to attack them while doing so.<p>

"Are they alright?" Hien asked, seeing Hiryu go down from the boat.

"I don't know! Just give me a second here will ya?" Yu shouted, carefully peering through his binoculars. "Dammit, where did they go?"

Chapter 5 END

* * *

><p>PS - I got some legit excuses to the delay of posting this chapter. It's due to both university commitments, especially for an upcoming Pol. Sci. essay that I need to submit for this term, and playing LA Noire, which is so uber cool (And I recommend you to play it). Sorry about that. Hopefully I can get one chapter out at least for this AugustSeptember yeah?

As you may notice, I'm ignoring the blue medal shooting mini-game for obvious reasons. Otherwise, time to resume telling the story of RE4 with some alternate universe stuff in it.


	6. Struggle

Resident Evil/Biohazard: Hostage Rescue

Rating: T

NOTE:

All characters of Resident Evil/Captain Commando/Street Fighter are under the copyright of Capcom. All characters of Martin Mystery are under the copyright of Marathon. All characters of Kara no Kyokai are under the copyright of TYPE-MOON. All characters of Spriggan are under the copyright of Hiroshi Takashige and Ryoji Minagawa. All characters of Jiraishin are under the copyright of Tsutomu Takahashi. The appearance of Kenneth "Kenny" Feng is under noctorro's jurisdiction. All others are under my jurisdiction.

Summary:

Leon and the party have approached the lake to where the creature "Del Lago" was said to be hiding in. Kevin and Hiryu volunteered to go out and engage the creature in order to clear the path for the rest of the group. While engaging Del Lago, it was able to knock the two into the waters. Will they be able to defeat the creature and help the others get to the other side of the lake? Stay tune to this chapter to find out.

Chapter 6: Struggle

* * *

><p>On lake waters, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"Dammit!"<p>

Kevin had emerged out of the lake waters, his head first.

"And it's a bit cold too! I can't stand it!"

The ex-SPF officer said, feeling his legs going cold as he swam for the motorboat. Luckily for him, he fell down a short distance from it. Likewise, Kevin had SPF training that included survival in waters such as swimming.

"Glad you made it!"

He found Hiryu already on the motoboat, ready to give Kevin a hand.

"Thanks!" Kevin said as he got on the motorboat. "Good thing you were around."

"Let's worry on that later." Hiryu told Kevin. "Del Lago could be anywhere ready to make us human food."

"Well I'd like to see it try." Kevin smirked as he got his hand on a harpoon. "Good thing these guys are still around." _And good thing that the harpoons were on a case somehow bolted on the boat floor. Otherwise, we're doomed._

Everything was silent as Kevin began to focus in locating the giant salamander. So far, the waters were quiet. Too quiet. Del Lago might be trying to sneak around and catch the two of them off their guard.

"Over there!"

Kevin saw what was coming. A big splash of water from a distance, followed by the head of Del Lago before it opened its mouth ready to tear the motorboat Kevin and Hiryu were using.

"Take this, you overgrowned monster!" Kevin yelled as he began to throw harpoons at the open mouth in order to get it to bleed. Two harpoons were already hurled at the mouth with the beast's mouth bleeding in response. "Hah! Try escaping that!"

"YES!" Kevin shouted, hurling in another harpoon before Del Lago pulled the motorboat with it while trying to smash it onto debris. Thanks to Hiryu's fast reaction in handling the motorboat, it was not working for the beast. Even while ramming the motorboat with its own body was not working as well. Kevin continued to hurl harpoons at the beast's body and tail.

"ALRIGHT!" The brown-haired man yelled, as he and Hiryu continued to dodge and attack Del Lago one more time to deter it from attacking their allies before they can cross over the lake to the other side and find the key they can use to get in the church as it was the major lead that they had. "YEEHA! Best marksmanship ever!"

* * *

><p>End of Right Dirt Path, away from main Dirt Path, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"They um..." Yu was confused as to what Kevin was doing. "seem to doing well."<p>

"Relax." Leon tried to reassure the Japanese Spriggan agent. "Kevin's like that when the odds are into his advantage. Ever since I began to work together with him a few years ago. He's got the best marksmanship ever back with the Select Police Force."

"I just hope the odds are in his advantage." Diana replied to Leon's comment about Kevin, a bit worried.

* * *

><p>On lake waters, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Kevin began to hurl harpoons again at Del Lago after it rose out of the lake waters, charging towards the stalled motorboat.<p>

"HAH! HAH!" yelled Kevin out loud as he continued to hurl the harpoons towards Del Lago's open mouth until it roared out loud before it made a big splash onto the water after briefly surfacing.

"Whoa..." Hiryu groaned, who was still in his seat. "That was... interesting."

"I know." Kevin said before the two heard the sound of rope going down the water.

"Wonder where that sound's coming from... HEY!" Hiryu shouted as he was about to be dragged onto the waters.

"Hold on there!" Kevin shouted, grabbing the SHADOW agent's Fairbarn Sykes combat knife from the knife sheath strapped on his tactical vest before the man began to use it to cut the rope tangled on his left leg.

* * *

><p>End of Right Dirt Path, away from main Dirt Path, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"Looks like he's tangled up." Yu told the party while peering through the binoculars. "And Kevin's hacking the ropes with my mate's knife."<p>

"Is he alright?" Sho asked Yu, looking at the motorboat from a distance.

"He should be." Yu said, watching Kevin continue to chop down the rope some more.

"I just hope Hiryu doesn't go down with Del Lago."

"I am confident that he will not go down so easily."

Yu watched through his binoculars until he saw Kevin finally cut down the rope tangling Hiryu's leg, which meant that the anchor went down with Del Lago's corpse.

Kevin looked at the party, still waiting for the motorboat, before he grinned and gave the thumbs up to indicate that the lake was safe from Del Lago at last.

"All clear!" Yu shouted, giving the thumbs up back to Kevin. He then saw the motorboat making its way back to pick up the others.

* * *

><p>Outskirts of Cabin, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Some time had greatly passed before Leon and Diana with Kevin and Hiryu used the motorboats to deposit the last of their allies onto the other side of the shore after defeating Del Lago.<p>

However, one thing was wrong. Getting very wrong.

Leon and Kevin had coughed for a minute or so, covering their mouths with their hands. But when they looked at them, the two DSO agents realized that it was their own blood instead of phlegm.

"What the?" Leon muttered, seeing everyone else having the same thing. Even Tea was not immune to this problem as Kevin was able to get the door of the nearby cabin open, despite feeling weak.

"I... can't take it anymore." Kevin said weakly, coughing a bit more while leaning on the door frame.

"I know..." Leon said, also weak. _What is this? I feel... weak and tired all of a sudden._

He did not have an answer to his own question as Leon collapsed on his knees before he hit the ground, face first on the floor. The blonde man had no idea if his allies were inside the cabin when he went down.

* * *

><p>Inside Cabin, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>It was already nighttime. Everyone from the party had been down and out cold from the sudden attack they all experienced. They were on the floor in various positions.<p>

"It seems everyone's quiet."

Ada got inside the cabin, smirking once she got in. "Everyone from the DSO agents to our lovely Interpol officer is here."

Kenny followed close behind, seeing everyone out cold. "Even the lady officer from Japan, the Center agents and the ARCAM Spriggans are out cold." He took a look around with little light coming from the moon. "It seems Saddler's little virus is working on them already."

"That I already know of." The Asian-American told Kenny before she eyed the typewriter. "Watch my back will you?"

"Fine." Kenny sighed. While Ada was busy getting to the nearest typewriter, the young man began to covertly place a note into Kevin's pants pockets without doing anything that would erase the spy's suspicions of him.

_I hope this can help..._

It took Ada a few minutes to use the antiquated, rusty typewriter found on the dining table. It was a good thing that everyone was out cold that they couldn't hear the machine at work.

"I'll let you know once I'm done here."

"Understood." Kenny stood guard and watched the outside from the window. He hated doing stuff like this. But ever since Kenny was "forced" to work alongside Wesker and his organization, he had no choice but to do it to survive. But for once, Kenny found it to be in an advantage to slip in something helpful to Kevin without being detected. Aside from that, Wesker used this opportunity to monitor Ada and Krauser to make sure they were doing what they were suppose to be doing.

_Not like I oughta help Wesker all the time anyway..._

It was a few said minutes that Ada placed the typewritten note on the dirty, dusty bed before she gestured to Kenny that they need to leave at once._  
><em>

* * *

><p>It was quiet. Very quiet especially when the bodies looked stiff considering that the party had an attack that kept them down half a day until the morning.<p>

"Ummm..." Leon was coming to, slowly opening his eyes.

_I'm still alive... Wait! _He saw that black veins were appearing all over his body.

"What is this?" The DSO agent yelled out, seeing the black veins appear all over his arms at a fast rate that he didn't know what was going on.

"NOOOO!" Leon shouted, the black veins already appearing all over his face.

* * *

><p>"LEON! It's all right!"<p>

Leon immediately opened his eyes and checked his arms, seeing that his arms were all right. None of the black veins showed up after all.

"Thanks Kevin." The blonde man groaned.

"Nightmare?" Kevin asked his partner.

Leon nodded. "You?"

"Same thing in some way." Kevin said before he shrugged. "Almost everyone else experienced it in some form. Regarding the veins that showed up in our bodies..."

"All right." Leon said before he massaged his temples. "This is going to be one hell of a headache after we explain this on a DSO report."

"I agree." Kevin said in agreement. "Right now, let's go and see if anyone else needs some help..."

* * *

><p>Control Room, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Krauser and Ada were inside the control room when Kenny came in. Octavia, Geki and Kei had left the place as the two needed it for an "important" meeting that does not involve them in the first place.<p>

"All right." Kenny told Ada and Krauser after locking the door behind him. "We have the place to ourselves for the time being. They'll be out to stretch for a little while since they want some action soon."

"I'm not surprised." Krauser raised an eyebrow before he spoke up. "I'm sure my boy's still out there trying to figure out a way to get here after all."

"Wesker contacted me." Ada told the ex-special forces soldier. "He said that we need to intensify our efforts to secure the researcher at any costs before Saddler realizes that he's going to get some backup."

"Dammit..." Krauser sighed, scratching the back of his head. "If we can only find out where that Luis guy is..." He then stared at Kenny.

"I'm in the dark like you Krauser!" Kenny shouted, waving his hands in front of him. "I got nothing too."

"Shit." The ex-special forces soldier muttered. "We'll need to find him ASAP. I'll take the lead anyway. Saddler trusts me ever since I caught the President's only kid as a bargaining chip to get into his little exclusive club."

"Indeed." Ada replied, hearing Krauser. "I'll continue to conduct reconnaissance to see if I can spot Luis and obtain the sample from him before it's too late."

"Don't get too soft with the hostage, kid." Krauser warned Kenny, glaring at him. "From what Wesker informed me about her, you were classmates with her at the university."

"Don't worry about that, Krauser." Kenny said, already placing a hand over his black hair. "Sheesh..."

"I'm goddamn serious." Krauser glared at Kenny even more. "You mess this mission up and I'll make it my personal duty to gut you up, even if Wesker recommended your participation because of your... implants and the Shadow Technology placed inside your body back when you were just a kid."

"Yeah..." Kenny sighed. "I got that part."

* * *

><p>Inside Cabin, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"They look like they're in bad shape like I was."<p>

Leon commented when he told Kevin, seeing a majority of the party either in pain or trying to get rid of the pain they felt in their bodies. He saw that some of them were starting to consume mixed herbs to ensure that they'll be fine.

"I know." Kevin told his partner. "Had to consume one of my mixed herbs after I felt some nagging pain on my chest. That was before I saw you waking up from your nightmare."

The blonde man sighed, nodding after hearing what Kevin mentioned. "Ah. I'm sure the mixed herbs aren't the permanent cure to this, but it'll do the job in easing the pain."

The two DSO agents suddenly noted that they were receiving radio transmissions.

"Must be Ingrid back in Washington." Kevin said, being the first to answer the transmission. **"Kevin here. Is there a transmission that I missed?"**

**"More than that." **Kevin, and later Leon, could hear a worried Hunnigan. **"6 hours since out last transmission. I was starting to get worried."**

Leon raised an eyebrow when he replied. **"Don't you mean lonely?" **Kevin could only grin. **"We started to feel dizzy. And then I guess we must have lost consciousness from there."**

**"Lost consciousness?" **Hunnigan replied, confused by what Leon said. **"Maybe it has some connection to what the village chief was talking about...?" **Leon said, offering a suggestion.**  
><strong>

**"Perhaps, Hunnigan." **Kevin told Hunnigan. **"Me and Leon are going to continue the mission alongside the others."**

**"Alright. Hunnigan out until the next transmission."**

**"Got it. Kevin Ryman out."**

"Let's go help the others make sure they're fine." Leon told Kevin when he began to make his way towards Yu, who was feeling some chest pain before the ex-RPD SPF policeman offered to the Japanese Spriggan some of his spare mixed herbs.

"Right."

"Leon-san." Sho greeted Leon, the latter seeing tha the former looked okay.

"You alright?" Leon asked the ninja commando.

"Believe me, I've been through a lot worse than this predicament." Sho reassured the DSO agent. "I've found this letter on the dusty old dinner table. Appears to be typewritten."

"Typewritten huh?" Leon said after getting the letter from Sho. "That's... quite interesting."

_Finally. Some language I can understand it in. English. _Leon nodded as he began to read the letter. It appeared to be addressed to the team in particular.

**There's an important item hidden in the falls. If you guys are able to get it, you might be able to get Ashley out of the church. **

**But I'll warn you, the route to the church isn't a walk in the park by any means. They've deployed what's called an "El Gigante", so God bless.**

**About what's going on in your bodies... I could help everyone if I would. But unfortunately, it's beyond my power.**

"Something?" Martin asked Leon after he had taken a mixed herb mixture from Kevin.

"Yeah." Leon told the Canadian Center agent. "You alright?"

"Aside from the chest pains I felt a while ago..." Martin replied, feeling as if he was a bit tired. "A bit tired, but we can go on..."

"Okay then..."

"Hey Leon." Kevin showed Leon a piece of paper he was holding. "You got a letter?"

"I do. With a woman's lips on it."

"Really?" Kevin saw that the letter was signed with a pair of red lips on lipstick. "That's... quite the signature."

"I agree." Leon shook his head slightly until he asked. "I just wonder if this letter's the only we can use as a clue."

"I got this too. Somehow shoved in my hands while I was knocked out cold."

"What's it say?"

"Said there's something of interest in the lake. Particularly on a certain part of the area itself." Kevin showed Leon a drawing of the lake with a X marked on it. "Even had the place pointed out. Isn't that nice?"

Leon took a look at the map, which was drawn out by hand. "Yeah I'll say it's nice. I may even have a look here myself."

"But..." Kevin told him.

"The others aren't looking that good." Leon told his partner. "Besides, I'll be back in a few. This won't take long."

"How do you know that?"

Leon smirked. "Because I do."

* * *

><p>Outside Cabin, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Leon went on board one of the two motorboats as he caught sight of two sources of light as a distance. Of the burning variety.<p>

_Must be the area Kevin mentioned from the piece of paper he got. _

The blonde man then started the motorboat's engine before he got on and navigated it towards the light.

"Hopefully nothing's going to go bump in the night before I'm dead."

Leon sighed while he kept an eye on the light ahead of him.

* * *

><p>Inside Cave, on lake waters, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"And here we are."<p>

Leon murmured as he parked the motorboat when he arrived. It was a small house-type building built on top of a wooden harbor.

"Looks like he's here."

"Greetings, stranger." The Merchant greeted Leon when he got on the wooden harbor. "I see that you're all alone today."

"It's a long story." Leon told the Merchant.

"And what are you here for?" The Merchant asked him, seeing the DSO agent standing outside his shop.

"I had a lead here. Thought I might look around for some clues."

The Merchant nodded and waved him off. "As long as it doesn't interfere with my work."

"Sure, why not?" Leon shrugged as he bashed the wooden barrels with a sharp, strong kick. He only found pesetas, totaling around 1200. Finding a box blocking one of the paths around the shop, Leon began to push it until it was out of his way.

_Seems to be a ladder up ahead. _Leon thought as he saw two more barrels blocking his way. He took out his Mercworx Sniper combat knife and bashed them, earning him 2010 pesetas.

"More money." Leon said, picking up the pesetas and placed him in an empty vest pouch before he started to climb the ladder. After getting up, Leon groaned at teh sight of two more boxes.

"Boxes again?" Leon was furious to see them blocking his way. He began to press his right shoulder at it while pushing it just to get it out of the way. He did so with the second box again in order to give him enough legroom.

"All right." Leon took the sigh of barrels once again, smashing it open to get 1100 pesetas, a Green Gem and a Green Herb. _Better take this._

He then saw a hole on the roof. Wondering why it's there, Leon decided to take his chances and jump down. He landed beside the Merchant, who was not surprised by Leon's presence inside his shop, but why he was standing right next to him behind the counter.

"What are you..." The Merchant began, questioning Leon's presence behind the counter.

"Apologies." Leon told the Merchant. "There's a hole up there..."

"I should have known that the hole above's a big liability." The Merchant sighed. "Anyway, I assume that you need to buy something from me, stranger?"

Leon nodded. "I just need a couple of First Aid Sprays..." He placed some pesetas on the table.

"Alright." The Merchant said. "I got some fresh ones with me." He showed Leon the spray cans with the Tricell insignia and label on them.

A few minutes later, Leon took the cans and boarded the motorboat once more after climbing back up and retracing his steps back to the wooden harbor entrance, heading back to the cabin where Kevin and the others are held up for the time being.

* * *

><p>Inside Cabin, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"You made it, Leon." Kevin greeted Leon when he got back. The latter saw that most of the people in the party were okay.<p>

"How's everyone?" Leon handed Kevin a First Aid Spray.

"Okay so far. Most of them took the mixed herb mixtures, so we'll be fine for now."

"So are we going?" Cammy asked when she approached Leon.

"If everyone's ready to go..." Leon told Cammy when he heard her question.

"Where are we going from here then?"

* * *

><p>In front of metal gate, near Cabin, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Leon showed the party the metal gate that he spotted after he arrived back at the wooden harbor near the cabin a few minutes ago. Like all the gates they spotted, it has the seal of Los Illuminados on it.<p>

"Java not like this gate." The caveman/Center agent commented after seeing the gate. For some reason, it gave Java the chills.

"Come on Java." Hiryu sighed. "The sooner we can go through past the gate, the sooner we can forget on seeing those gates ever again."

Yu and Jean shouldered their weapons as Java sighed and opened the gate to ensure that no hostile villager would bust in and take the party by surprise.

"Clear." Jill told the others after she drew out her sidearm, alongside every other pistol-wielding person including Kevin.

"Let's go." Leon told everyone as he had his Silver Ghost raised before he moved first, being the point man.

* * *

><p>Dirt Path, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>The party got pass the open metal gate, walking along the path before it started to rain hard.<p>

"Among the worst things I don't want to see coming." Hien groaned.

"It is just mere rain." Tea told the balaclava-clad teen.

"She's right you know." Martin tried to cheer up the masked Spriggan agent. "What's the worst thing that can happen to us right now?"

As the party walked down the path, they were confronted by two villagers. Once of them with a rusted sickle.

"Is he going to intimidate us with his staring?"

The first villager suddenly began to convulse around, moving his body up, down, left and right before his head exploded.

"Oh my god!" Diana shouted, seeing what happened to the villager. "His... his head just got blown up!"

"No... wait Diana-san." Fujino told the Canadian Center agent as something began to emerge from the villager's neck, which consisted of a parasite-type creature with a blade mounted on a tentacle.

"What do we do?" Martin said, intrigued and scared when he saw the parasite with the blade on the tentacle.

"Get away from it!" Jill told the party as she began to take out a flashbang from her tac vest. "Let's try this!"

"Jill!" Kevin yelled for Jill's attention when she tossed Kevin the flashbang. He took out the safety pin and hurled it towards the villager's feet.

"Cover your eyes!" The ex-SPF officer yelled, using his right arm to cover his eyes when the flashbang exploded to prevent himself and the others from being blinded by the bright light. When it faded, Kevin was one of the first to remove his arm to see the plaga destroyed from the bright light.

"Looks like that worked." Eriko said after seeing the dead villager with the other one stunned.

"I guess the parasite comes out at night then." Yu commented before he fired the Heckler and Koch G3A3 after he got a clear shot. Firing the German-made assault rifle several times in single shot mode, the Japanese Spriggan agent saw several of the 7.62 NATO bullets strike the second villager before a couple of time hit him by the head.

"The same thing again." Sho saw the other villager's head explode from the headshots with another parasite emerging from the neck. "We must take it out at once before it can kill us."

"Not a problem." Jean answered after hearing Sho. He ported the Franchi SPAS-12 and charged towards the villager with the exposed villager. Jill and some of the others except for the Spriggans and the Center agent saw Jean's movement and how he was able to move fast.

"Interesting." Sho murmured before he moved in to join in with Jean taking the lead as he fired the shotgun to get the villager down. Sho was nearing the villager while drawing out his ninjato when he saw the villager was getting up slowly, taking the shotgun blast in the chest.

"EYAH!" Sho yelled out, slicing the villager's left leg to incapacitate him permanently. The bladed tentacle tried to make a slash for the ninja commando, but the villager received two more shotgun blasts to the chests once again.

_I must subdue this villager at once. _The ninja took the opportunity when Jean kept firing the SPAS-12 at the downed villager when it tried to crawl since he lost its left leg.

"Dammit..." Leon sighed as he primed another flashbang grenade before he shouted to Jean and Sho. "Cover your eyes!"

The two did as they asked, moving away from the downed villager before they covered their eyes. An explosion took place, which destroyed the exposed parasite and dissolved the villager's corpse.

"Be thankful that you didn't have to fire more of your shells, Jean." Yu told Jean after the French Spriggan agent lowered his SPAS-12.

"Nicely done." Hiryu told Leon, porting his Heckler and Koch G36C.

"Up ahead." Martin pointed out the path up ahead, which needed some jumping as there were some platforms built over water after some steps. Sho walked alongside the group while he sheathed his ninjato. "Looks like we have to jump to get ahead."

The group began to jump onto each platform, one by one, before they walked down another path for Leon to break a wooden barrel open to obtain a frag grenade. Once more, they went to hop over platforms to continue moving ahead. So far, they didn't fall down onto the water.

Until they approached a rappelling line that consisted of a rope tied on a 2x4 with a couple of posts planted onto the ground.

"Looks like our only way down..." Chun-Li began before Kevin motioned her to stop.

"Hold on a second, detective..." Kevin insisted, pointing to the work camp up ahead. "Could be some villagers. I'll clear the path up ahead." He began to shoulder the Steyr SSG P IV and crouch, taking aim at the guard tower with a villager just standing there.

"Gotcha..." Kevin murmured, pulling the trigger to watch the villager's head explode. Unlike the previous encounter, a parasite did not show up and the villager went down on his knees and collapsed before his entire body dissolved.

"All right." Kevin took everyone in the party. "Path's clear for now. But we need to hurry."

Without saying anything, Sho jumped down from the dirt path down to the ground, the distance being the near equivalent of at least 2 stories.

"Okay?" Leon said, seeing the ninja's commando skills before he tested the rope if it was not sabotaged. Once he was able to do so, the blonde man began to rappel down. Good thing his rappelling training in the DSO came in handy.

* * *

><p>Outskirts of Work Camp, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Leon was the first to safely rappel down when Sho gestured to him that it was all clear of hostiles, his ninjato already drawn out once more.<p>

"We should hurry." Sho told Leon. "There's no telling when those villagers will come."

Leon nodded to Sho, hearing his comment when Kevin began to rappel down. A few minutes later, he came down right next to Leon after the man ported his Remington 870 shotgun.

Minutes later, the Spriggans followed. Martin and the other Center agents followed, although Diana had a much harder time in rappelling down before Martin would reassure her that he'll help her in case Diana should let go of the rope by accident. The SHADOW agents came in next with Jill, Eriko, Cammy and Chun-Li being the last ones to rappel down the rope.

Without waiting for the others to regroup, Leon went to the guard tower where the lone villager had been killed a while ago, taking a box of shotgun shells with him. He smashed the wooden barrel with the butt of the 870, taking with him a box of 7.62 NATO subsonic bullets.

_Kevin'll need this._

"Kevin!" Leon called for his partner, tossing the box to him.

"Thanks!" Kevin shouted as Leon climbed down the ladder, the 870 slinged on his back. Once they regrouped, the party continued on until they had to stop. The next path they had to go through involves jumping, but the gap is too big that all of them can't do it. Well maybe except for Sho, Cammy, Chun-Li and Jean.

"What do we do?" Hien muttered, seeing the big gap between platforms. "I'm sure some of us can do this, but not me. I'm just a normal person here."

The next area the party ventured had lots of machinery, especially cogs and cranes.

_It must be for power or something. _Leon thought, keeping a grip on his Silver Ghost in case hostiles would show up.

Fujino began to stare at the wooden boxes that were hoisted above water by chains.

"What are you looking at?" Diana asked Fujino.

"Those." Fujino pointed to Diana the boxes. "They can be of some use."

"Well there is a barrier to prevent large objects from drifting further into the water." Cammy pointed to the party the barrier, which resembled railings except that the hole is not big for large debris to get past it.

"Guess we'll have to try." Kevin took out his Glock 21 Mariner pistol and fired it at the chains holding the wooden box up.

The box fell down to the rapid waters. But as mentioned by Cammy, it did not drift into open waters as the barrier kept it in place, making it into an effective platform for the party to use in moving across.

"Looks like the little lady solved our problems!" Kevin shouted as he looked at the chains that were holding up two more wooden boxes from a distance. Thanks to his marksmanship, the DSO agent was able to shoot the boxes with the SSG P IV down to the water without any much of a problem.

"Now let's start jumping our way through." Leon said to the group as he took the lead, jumping on the wooden boxes as a makeshift platform. He then gestured to the group to wait as he spotted something sparkling on a wooden beam above him.

"What is that?" Leon murmured as he fired a shot from his Silver Ghost, going forward to check out the Amber Ring.

"Looks like this can get a lot of money." The blonde man said as he pocketed the ring before he eyed the raging waterfall that was blocking the way in front of him.

_Can't do anything about that except to fall back and see the others for now._

He ran back to the ladder nearby, climbing up and smashing the barrel with a strong forward kick, revealing an untouched Green Herb. Securing the plant and placing it on his rear pouch, Leon jumped down and ran back onto the wooden platform to meet with Kevin and the others.

"Anything?" Kevin asked his DSO partner.

"Seems to be a path back there." Leon pointed out the waterfall behind him. "Current's too strong. There ought to be something that we can use to reduce the strength of the waterfall current."

"Best then if we go there."

As the party began to move out, Leon and Kevin sighted some of the villagers coming towards their positions. A few of them had a combination of torches and farming tools with them.

"Not this again."

It seemed that they didn't do anything yet. So Leon and Kevin gestured to them that they should stay put while Leon went to disable the current. Hopping over the boxes, he stopped by a wooden barrel and smashed it open with a kick to get 1000 pesetas before Leon climbed up the ladder and saw a lever.

"Good." Approaching the lever, Leon got a good grip on the end of the lever and pulled it from left to right.

What happened next was a chain reaction that occurred before his eyes.

Leon saw that a wooden sluice was moved aside, pouring water on the other sluices that made the gears and the cartwheel working. He heard the thud sound, which came from a gate nearby. It sealed off the flow of water, which was able to prevent any water from flowing. The party was able to see the opening passage of a cave.

"A cave." Leon whispered. "Looks like our way out."

The DSO agent made his way back to the party, who waited for him in the middle path. As Leon did this, the armed villagers advanced forward to get them.

"They're coming!" Yu shouted, who immediately shouldered his G3A3 and began to fire at the advancing villagers as they tried to hop onto the wooden box platforms. A few of them were hit by the 7.62 NATO bullets and in response, went down to the river. Jean assisted Yu by firing all of the available 12 gauge buckshot rounds from his SPAS-12. Thanks to the effort of the two Spriggans, they were able to wipe them out with no trouble at all.

"Let's move!" Kevin hollered out to the others, having his Glock 21 Mariner already drawn out as he went inside the cave before Leon went in last.

* * *

><p>Inside Cave, Work Camp, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"Get the lights on."<p>

Leon told the party.

"Anyone who's got a flashlight or something."

He started by turning on the prototype flashlight located on his belt, a prototype flashlight made by DSO R&D.

"I got one." Leon told the others as he turned on his flashlight. Martin used his U-Watch to summon the Alpha Goggles, which gave the group another source of light.

"All right. Lead the way guys." Yu told Leon and Martin since his G3A3 doesn't have any provision for a weaponlight. Same thing with Jean and the others who had firearms as well.

"Path looks clear."

The party advanced on, not stopping for anything until they were stopped by a wall at the end of the corridor that some kind of weird crest on. The passage had lots and lots of lit white candles on the side.

"It looks like we can take it." Kevin told Leon, pointing to the insignia on the door.

"Seems to be detachable too." Eriko commented, checking the insignia to make sure it was not booby trapped or anything.

"Cover me." Leon told the others while Kevin, Eriko and Jill aimed at the insignia. Once Leon was able to take it, loud rumbling was heard before the wall went up, revealing another passageway.

**"Good news." **Kevin went on to his radio to make contact with Hunnigan. **"We got an object that seems to resemble the cult's insignia."**

**"Wonderful." **Hunnigan told Kevin while nodding. **"Make sure you get back to the church. Ashley's safety is our highest priority."**

**"Understood." **Kevin gave Leon the thumbs up as he motioned to the others to run to the metal doors seen at the end of the "new" passageway.

* * *

><p>Near small harbor, Cave, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>The party had exited the cave passageway and found themselves in a small pathway that led to a wooden harbor with 2 to 3 motorboats moored with ropes.<p>

"Least that can make our job a bit easier." Yu said while Jill and Leon conducted a sweep on the harbor to ensure that it was clear.

Aside from the bats that were bothering them by coming near them, forcing some of the others like Kevin, Eriko and Diana to swat them away with their hands.

"Clear!" Jill said out loud when she noted that the motorboats looked okay and were not a threat to the party.

"Just a second." Kevin said when he came to the two wooden barrels, kicking them hard to smash the barrels open. He then secured some pesetas and gave them to Tea to keep the money safe until they need to buy some things from the Merchant once more.

"Let's hit it!" Leon shouted after he removed the rope that secured the first motorboat. Dan jumped onto it and tested the engine by turning it on to see if it was working. A few seconds later, the motor was heard rumbling. The Malaysian SHADOW agent gave the thumbs up.

Jill and Cammy went to the other two motorboats to remove the ropes that moored them to the harbor.

The party went to divide themselves into the boats, which carried at least 4-5 people each to be on the safe side. The boats then left the harbor, following a light that was seen on the other side on the cave.

Seeing as they have no idea where to go, the party decided to go there to start.

* * *

><p>Underground Store, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"Ah!" The Merchant said after hearing the motorboats moored near the harbor next to his shop. "I seem to have guests already."<p>

The first motorboat was moored onto the harbor with Leon leaping onto the harbor. He drew out his Silver Ghost and approached the interior of the passageway before he noted that the area was just hollowed out to hold a shop.

"It's you again." Leon greeted the Merchant as he holstered his sidearm when he followed the familiar voice to see the Merchant's shop. "You're in a lot of the shops we've been to and I'm already beginning to think that you're just more than one person."

"Hey." Martin greeted the Merchant by saying hi. The Merchant grinned in reply.

"So are you lot here to buy some of my goods today?"

Some of the guys/gals in the party looked at each other, wondering if they need to get something from the Merchant right now.

"As a matter of fact," Tea said when she approached the Merchant's shop. "we do have some things to sell to you."

"Really?" The Merchant raised an eyebrow. "Well let's see the merchandise you're willing to sell to me then."

The British Spriggan agent presented to the Merchant the Amber Ring Leon had previously found back at the work camp.

"Ah..." The Merchant said with enthusiasm as he checked out the Amber Ring before he told Tea. "I'll buy it as a high price."

"For how much?"

"10,000 Pesetas."

"That sounds good to me." Hien said while he gave a whistle upon hearing the price for the Amber Ring.

"So what are we going to get this time?" Chun-Li asked after the party had unanimously agreed on the set price for how much the Merchant would agree to buy the Amber Ring.

"We're running out of ammo though..." Kevin replied when he and Leon pointed to their shoulder holsters. "That's a first."

"Then first aid sprays will be next. Just enough for us to have in case we get wounded on the way back to the church and after." Leon added next. _Hopefully I stockpiled enough shotgun ammo for the 870..._

Tea handed in the Amber Ring to the Merchant after hearing no disagreement from the party.

"Well then." The Merchant said after receiving the Amber Ring. "A deal's a deal then."

"Now what?" Hiryu sighed as he leaned onto the wall behind him.

"Do we continue on our independent objectives?" Fujino approached the armed SHADOW agent and asked him.

Hiryu nodded. "Ah. We still need to confirm if the cult does have some way of controlling the populace with some kind of biological weapon or something. After that... me and Dan will take care of destroying it. It's our specialty after all as part of black ops."

"And the American President's daughter?"

"Leave that to the Americans once we can secure her from the church we passed a few hours ago." Hiryu said before he added. "And to the INTERPOL and Delta Red with the Japanese detective. It's their job after all in the first place. We can do that, but MOM didn't order us to do it anyway."

Leon and the others began to purchase the Tricell First Aid Sprays from the Merchants while securing ammo for their weapons.

They have a chance for a small break and they would decide to use it in order to get ready for the inevitable.

"Understood." Fujino nodded after hearing the veteran agent's answer to her questions.

When everyone was done, the party was directed by the Merchant to go down the path up ahead, which formed the T-shaped path they were on a while ago, and then turn to the left. A metal ladder was waiting for them as the only means to leave the place.

Sho had merely jumped up, a feat he can perform thanks to his ninjitsu training.

As for the others, they took turns climbing it up before the ninja had opened a pair of double doors up ahead, which had the insignia of Los Illuminados.

* * *

><p>Outside Underground Store, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"Clear!"<p>

"Clear!"

Leon and Kevin had their sidearms drawn out the minute they were able to climb the ladder and get out of the underground store by climbing a small flight of stairs, ensuring that no villagers were waiting to pounce on them. Leon sighted a couple of barrels nearby, smashing them with the buttstock of his Remington 870. From the remains of the smashed barrels, the DSO agent was able to secure 900 pesetas and a Green Herb. He decided to give it to Kevin, who went to mix a Green Herb that he kept for a while with the Green Herb Leon gave him seconds ago, creating a much stronger Green Herb mixture that can come in handy.

"Let's head back." Jill suggested to the two DSO agents, her Beretta Px4 Type F pistol clutched tightly on her right hand. "Hopefully the enemy won't know that we got the seal."

Leon and Kevin nodded at Jill after hearing her comments. The two went to trace their paths, taking the lead when they checked the open area carefully. For some reason, the men felt a bit uneasy.

"You alright, Leon?" Kevin asked when he saw Leon shouldering the Remington 870.

"I am, Kevin." Leon replied before he added. "But for some reason, I got a bad feeling about this."

"What, you mean something bad's about to happen?"

"Don't you?"

Jill could only sigh at the two men talking like that to each other. She gestured to the others to stop for the meantime.

"I know what you mean..." Kevin tried to tell Leon that everything was fine. "But considering that we took care of the overgrown beast Del Lago in the lake..."

All of a sudden, the party saw that the stake-built gates had been closed.

"Dammit..." Jean snarled. "We're trapped." He eyed a villager on an elevated position responsible for closing the gates. Yu placed a hand on Jean's shoulder and went to fire a few rounds with his Heckler & Koch G3A3 at the villager, killing him.

A gate was heard being opened by two villagers before more of them were seen pulling ropes as hard as they could.

"What the hell?" Martin shouted after seeing what had transpired. "How do we get out of this place?"

Dan and Hiryu didn't reply and instead, raised their respective assault rifles and shouldered them before the SHADOW agents began to open fire at the villagers.

As soon as they dropped dead permanently, a giant, towering figure came busting through the gate. It didn't care whether the gate had been damaged in the process.

"Is that... human?" Diana squeaked in fear when she saw the figure. She and the others noted that it was naked except for a piece of loincloth that covered its waist and had a bald head.

"I pretty much doubt that now." Cammy answered Diana's question before the figure, known as El Gigante, took a step forward and got ready to swing its huge right fist at the party and clobber them good.

"EVERYONE! SCATTER NOW!"

Leon shouted before he did a backflip to get out of the way. Kevin, Jill and Chun-Li did so likewise while Cammy executed one that made her go to the left side. Sho simply executed a forward flip and landed just near El Gigante, ready to draw out his ninjato.

As for the others, they either ran away or dashed to the side to avoid being on the receiving end of the punch.

"So what now?" Diana asked after she got back on her feet.

Leon answered Diana's concern by shooting the 870 towards El Gigante's right arm while pumping the weapon. He then shouted to get the message across.

"ALL THOSE WHO DON'T HAVE A PHYSICAL WEAPON, STAY BACK IMMEDIATELY!" Leon told the party as he directed eyed Cammy and Chun-Li. While he admired them for being good professionals who can handle themselves by using martial arts, he doubted much that the two women can fight off against a huge giant. He then checked out Tea, who didn't seem to have any kind of weapon she can use.

"EVERYONE ELSE, SPREAD OUT AND DON'T GET CAUGHT BY THIS THING'S ATTACKS!"

Those in the party who had access to small arms either shouldered them and took aim at El Gigante or gripped them in their hands, in the case for pistols. Martin and Fujino drew out I-Cutters from their Center-issued watches, the former holding it with the blade pointed upward while the latter held hers in a reverse grip. Diana was later given the X-Rod by Martin after getting his I-Cutter to defend herself, which she gladly accepted. Java gritted his teeth at El Gigante and pounded his left clenched fist at the palm of his right hand before he went to the nearest boulder and prepared to lift it.

_How do we attack it? _Sho pondered as he evaded an attack from El Gigante when it tried to step on him. The ninja gladly responded to the attack by stabbing the tip of his ninjato below its foot. While the Ninja Commando is certain that his weapon can kill or severely wound any enemy, he was sure that whatever was controlling the populace is giving them a sort of resistance to weapons. Virus or otherwise.

* * *

><p>MOM's Office, The Center<p>

* * *

><p>"Billy." MOM greeted the tiny alien as he flew into her office after he exited from the elevator. "Is there any progress on the problem from our Spanish base?"<p>

Billy nodded from the seat of his hover chair. "I got an immediate report from our Spanish investigators." He pressed some buttons on his armrest. "It's not official yet, as in the report had been submitted, but they suggest that intentional sabotage was most likely the reason why we couldn't transport our SHADOW agents in Spain."

MOM frowned at the news, leaning back on her chair.

"Does this mean that we have a traitor in our midst?"

Billy began to check on the electronic tablet that appeared in front of him, projected from the armrest. "I'm asking Security and Intelligence to check on all surveillance equipment on anything suspicious from within the last 24 hours." He then asked MOM. "Are you sure it's okay that we don't contact Martin or the other agents in Spain?"

"It's for the best." MOM nodded. "I'm sure they can do okay. Besides, we have no idea if any one of our agents could use the opportunity and use some of our equipment to tap into our communications and report back to his or her handler, even though the Watches I issue have high-grade encryption that it would take years for any hacker to break into."

The green alien sighed hard. Martin and the other agents were among his best friends ever since he decided to live on Earth and join the Center to protect his adopted home from alien or paranormal events from ever taking place. But he still worries if the traitor would really go all the way to place the Center agents in harm's way to ensure that their mission will not be a successful like all the other ones.

"Billy."

"Yes?"

MOM sighed as well before she spoke to him.

"Select a few agents who you can trust. And only the ones you can trust without any problems of them being on a potential payroll for another person."

Billy nodded. "Understood. But what's this for?"

"Have them act undercover in weeding out who the traitors are for the cult." MOM then frowned. "But tell them to act discreetly while they continue to act within the boundaries of their duties and responsibilities."

"I got it."

"This may be the only way to catch the traitor or traitors in the act. Hopefully this can produce something useful for us in the investigation."

* * *

><p>Open Circular Area, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>El Gigante roared out before he began to swing his fist towards the party. Immediately, Leon told everyone to scatter in order to avoid being clobbered and wounded.<p>

"How do we deal with... that thing?" Cammy said in anger after she rolled onto the side, glaring at El Gigante.

"Anyone got grenades?" Yu asked as he got a frag grenade out from his tac vest. "One of my last ones..."

Leon got a flashbang and chucked it to Kevin. "Got an idea. Use this to stun the giant while we lob whatever frag grenades we got."

"And then we use the flashbang to give us the opportunity to strike back." Kevin nodded and grinned at his partner. "I like your idea, Leon."

The brown-haired man took off the safety pin of the flashbang and tossed it in front of El Gigante. "COVER YOUR EYES! NOW!"

Everyone obeyed Kevin's order and shielded their eyes. A few seconds after the primed flashbang landed in front of El Gigante, a bright flash of light appeared in front of the giant. As a result, he was caught unaware and was blinded by the light. He roared and placed his hands on his eyes so as to ensure normal vision stability once the pain in his eyes went away due to the light flash.

"DO IT!"

Anyone who had access to a frag grenade, ranging from Leon and Kevin to the ARCAM Spriggans and the armed SHADOW agents hurled whatever frag grenades they had after they surrounded El Gigante from a distance to make sure the shrapnels don't hurt them. Eriko stayed back to protect Chun-Li, Cammy and Tea as they don't have the means to fight against El Gigante aside from their fists and psi powers for the British Spriggan agent.

A series of explosion occurred near and around El Gigante, the shrapnel hurting the giant from his back all the way to his arms and legs even though he was protected by the parasite to ensure a lot of physical resistance. More than what an average person has.

Then, El Gigante began to crouch down while roaring out.

"What's happening?" Fujino asked no one in particular, lowering her I-Cutter.

"Look!" Martin pointed out that something was coming out of El Gigante. The party knows that something hideous was about to come out of the giant.

"Java." Diana told Java, the latter nodding in reply with the huge rock in his hands.

Something "came out" from the back of El Gigante. And it was something hideous all right. It looked like some kind of worm-like creature with some tentacles on the side. At best, it looked like some kind of germ that would only exist in the human body or something.

"Disgusting." Chun-Li frowned after seeing the parasite. Cammy and Eriko simply wanted to vomit in disgust.

"Let's weaken it first." Leon and Kevin drew out their sidearm and fired more than 3 shots each at the exposed parasite.

After the DSO agents had fired their shots, Sho began to dash towards the slightly weakened El Gigante, beginning to draw out his ninjato. By the time he was near El Gigante, Sho jumped from the ground and executed a forward flip that enabled him to land on El Gigante's back.

"GO MASTER!" Hiryu cheered on Sho as he now armed himself with the ninjato, using its "properties" to slash and hack the exposed parasite. But the more Sho did this, the more he noted that most of its wounds had quickly regenerated. He did not see even the bullet marks that had pierced it a few minutes ago before the Ninja Commando had charged in.

"What kind of vile creature has the parasite produced?" Sho murmured before he did a backflip; El Gigante had to stand up again and the exposed parasite was already starting to get back inside the giant's body.

Java covered Sho's escape by hurling the giant rock he had towards El Gigante's forehead. So far it worked. The giant took a few steps back and roared in pain while he covered his forehead to ease the pain.

"Attaboy, Java!" Martin gave a thumbs up to his caveman partner. But that triumph was for a short while as El Gigante roared in anger at Java when he began a slow march towards the party. He began to raise a fist before he began to make a punching motion towards the ground.

Chapter 6 END

* * *

><p>PS - Once again, another chapter. Please feel free to let me know on the reviews how I did. Also feel free to let me know if I goofed something up or what in this chapter. I just need to put the word out that I'll be busy soon with writing two essays for my Political Sciences classes (Never mind one that I just have to submit essays x 2 based on the readings). This means that I may get a chapter or two out before 2011 ends if this goes on aside from this. If this is the case, then I'll probably have to put my writing on hiatus soon for a while.<p>

Hopefully I can finish this (and my other project) in 2012 to determine if I can do another story since I'll be graduating from university with a Political Science BA. (Which means no Auxiliary Police volunteering, boo!)

Enjoy and happy reading. Happy Holidays and enjoy whatever remains of 2011.


	7. Moving onward

Resident Evil/Biohazard: Hostage Rescue

Rating: T

NOTE:

All characters of Resident Evil/Captain Commando/Street Fighter are under the copyright of Capcom. All characters of Martin Mystery are under the copyright of Marathon. All characters of Kara no Kyokai are under the copyright of TYPE-MOON. All characters of Spriggan are under the copyright of Hiroshi Takashige and Ryoji Minagawa. All characters of Jiraishin are under the copyright of Tsutomu Takahashi. The appearance of Kenneth "Kenny" Feng is under noctorro's jurisdiction. All others are under my jurisdiction.

Summary:

Leon and the group gets tangled up with their first major battle against a giant called El Gigante. Can they survive against it or will they be beaten up to a pulp? Stay tune to this chapter to find out.

Chapter 7: Moving onward

* * *

><p>Open Circular Area, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>A dog had eyed the party's fight against El Gigante, seeing them weaken the giant to fight the parasite that emerged out of its back twice in a row. From the same elevated position used by the villagers to close the gates to the open area, it watched the giant smack Kevin and Jill on the ground. The former ingested the Dual Green Herb Mixture with half to himself before he gave the other half to Jill, which enabled them to get back into the fight although feeling some pain here and there.<p>

The dog noted Leon as he aimed and fired the Remington 870 against El Gigante, who had covered his face with his arms to ensure that they receive the brunt of the buckshots. Watching the DSO agent fire the shotgun over and over again reminded the dog of his time when he was held captive by a foothold before Cammy freed him. She was also present in the fight, but kept her distance as her unarmed combat moves could not El Gigante.

It decided on its next move.

The dog would help the party in fighting El Gigante when it howled very loud in the air that the giant focused its attention to it.

* * *

><p>"Hey." Leon saw the howling dog after he fired the last buckshot shell into El Gigante. "It's that dog from way back..."<p>

"Man's best friend is here to help huh?" Kevin said as he grunted a bit, feeling some pain in the stomach area while clutching his Glock 21 Mariner. The brown-haired DSO agent saw the dog leap down from the elevated position before it began to growl at El Gigante. "That's finally a good thing to see."

"It seems to be giving us an advantage against the giant." Sho told the party, holding the ninjato at the ready as the dog was now distracting El Gigante to the point that its back was turned towards them.

"NOW!" Jean said as he opened fire with the Franchi SPAS-12 at El Gigante's head, giving Leon the opportunity to reload the Remington 870. Jill and Eriko fired their sidearms at El Gigante. "FIRE!"

"I'm out of frags!" Yu yelled when he reloaded his Heckler and Koch G3A4. "But this'll compensate for it!"

The Japanese Spriggan agent went to fire the G3A4 at full automatic at the giant's head, making El Gigante shout in pain before the party saw signs of rupture at the giant's back.

"Here goes!" Kevin shouldered the Steyr SSG P IV and fired the silenced sniper rifle at the parasite when it came out of El Gigante.

"Cover me..." Fujino dashed towards El Gigante while Hiryu and Hien fired their respective assault rifles to further weaken the exposed parasite. The teenage girl hacked and slashed the parasite many times before she did a flip to land on the ground.

"Bend." She softly whispered, concentrating on letting her powers twist and crush the parasite. But El Gigante resisted it by trying to charge at her with his shoulders after the parasite quickly retreated back.

"Look out!" Sho dashed in to save Fujino from being crushed.

"I'm getting low of ammo!" Hiryu yelled when he had to stop firing his Heckler and Koch G36C.

Leon and Jean fired their shotguns at El Gigante, covering for Hiryu when he was able to reload his assault rifle. He took aim with the dual sights attached on his weapon and fired at El Gigante. Dan joined in when he aimed the red dot sight mounted on the SIG Sport 552 assault.

Try as he might, El Gigante could not resist the bullets that were meant for him. Because of this, he was forced to yell in pain and expose his parasite. This gave Kevin the opportunity to fire the SSG P IV and empty its magazine at the parasite once it came out.

"Just a little more..." Kevin murmured, sighting the scope at the parasite as he worked his hands to reload and fire the bolt-action sniper rifle.

* * *

><p>MOM's Office, The Center<p>

* * *

><p>Billy went inside MOM's office after seeing that the double doors to the room was wide open.<p>

"You have something for me?" MOM asked Billy when he showed her an electronic tablet.

"We got this when some of the Security and Intelligence analysts were able to find this from a hidden surveillance camera in the portal room where we usually sent our agents through if time's not an issue."

"Show me." MOM told the green alien, who immediately replied by pressing a video file on the tablet.

"Here you are." Billy said before handing the electronic tablet to MOM, who held in horizontally. "It seems that someone's snooping around the portal room machinery in our Spanish base."

_Hm? _The Center head was baffled when she saw that the potential culprit was human, looking around the empty room before he brought out what appears to be pulling some wiring with his gloved hands. He was Caucasian with brown hair, an oval-shaped face and a small scar near his right eye.

"If I recall..." MOM pointed to the screen. "He was new for a few weeks and was vetted by SI."

"You want me to get SRS to arrest him?" Billy asked MOM.

"No." MOM shook her head. "We need to know who's giving his orders to conduct acts of sabotage. For now, ask SI to conduct more surveillance on him."

"Understood."

* * *

><p>Open Circular Area, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>The final shot from Kevin's SSG P IV paid off as El Gigante began to howl in pain, but not before the giant was able to clobber a few people out of the way.<p>

"HOLY SHIT!"

Leon and Sho were among the first to respond by getting prone.

"It seems we got him for good."

The ninja watched as the giant wailed his last before he died for good.

"Everyone okay?" Leon asked as he got up. Instead, he only got some concerned response when he saw four of his allies were knocked out cold from El Gigante's backfist attack.

"Dammit..." The DSO agent muttered before he saw the giant die. _Finally._

"Who was hit?" Sho said after seeing that two out of the four small huts were destroyed when figures had crashed into them.

"It's bad, master!" Hiryu shouted when he spoke to the ninja.

"What about it?"

"We got four down." Hiryu explained. "But not serious, they're just out cold."

"We don't have time for this." Leon sighed after hearing what the young SHADOW agent had mentioned. "Which means we'll seriously need to split the team up again to make up for lost time."

Sho noted that Yu, Chun-Li, Martin and Kevin were clobbered outright by El Gigante. So far, they were all getting up from being hit, which is good.

"How shall we divide the party?" Sho asked Leon.

* * *

><p>En route to Church, outskirts of El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>While the four were slowly recuperating from the attack, it was decided finally two groups would be formed to save time and to get a lead in securing Ashley before Los Illuminados found out that El Gigante had been permanently killed in battle.<p>

The main group would be led by Leon, mostly due to his experience in dealing with the "weird" ever since Raccoon City while being a covert agent with DSO. Accompanying Leon in the first group back to the big church were Jean, Diana, Java, Cammy, Hien, Eriko and Jill with Dan. As for the other team, Kevin would stay behind to lead it. Accompanying him would consist of Sho, Tea, Hiryu and Fujino with Yu, Chun-Li and Martin once the three would be up and about.

Leon kept his guard up as he advanced first towards the church, remembering the emblem that he obtained a while ago. He swept the grounds in front of the church and saw that it was clear. When Leon realized it, he gestured to the group to cover him while he approached the doors and placed the emblem on it.

"It's secure." murmured Leon after placing the Round Insignia emblem over the double doors. As soon as the emblem was properly placed, he was able to push the double doors open as they moved inward.

"Let's go." Leon told the others, jerking his head towards the direction of the church interior.

* * *

><p>Open Circular Area, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"How's everyone doing?" Sho went to ask Hiryu as the situation was assessed.<p>

"They're okay now." Hiryu carefully adjusted the sling to his Heckler & Koch G36C while Yu and Chun-Li were being checked out for injuries. Kevin was alright and was busy scavenging the empty huts for ammo or herbs to use. Jill had earlier administered whatever herbs they got to Kevin and Martin much earlier before she was about to do the same to the ARCAM Spriggan and Interpol officer. Tea had checkout the El Gigante corpse and saw that gold bars were found inside it. "But we'll need to move fast before we're done for."

"Not until she administers the herbs." Sho told his young protégé before Jill administered the herbs to Chun-Li. Yu had taken his a few minutes ago and looked fine.

"Is there something, Tea-san?" Fujino went to see the El Gigante corpse when she saw Tea inspecting it.

"In here." Tea pointed out to Fujino an "interesting sight" at the corpse. "I found something.

Fujino crouched next to the corpse and looked at the big wound at the left side of El Gigante. "It... it can't be."

"But it is."

The British Spriggan agent had actually found a bunch of gold bars at the wound opening of El Gigante. What baffled her is that she had no idea how the giant had the gold bars inside of him.

"Masaka..." Fujino muttered while grabbing a gold bar to check it if it was real or not. "It's a genuine gold bar." She then held the gold bar before gripping her hand around it carefully.

"The only thing we can do is to use it for extra money." Tea grinned as she went for the nearest gold bar. "We can sell this to the merchant when we can see him."

"Find anything?" Kevin asked the ladies after helping to administer whatever medical items he can use as he approached the giant's corpse.

"Just some gold bars." Fujino told Kevin. "It is strange since we don't know how the giant had this in his body."

"Well that is news to me." Kevin said as he scratched his head. "Least he doesn't need it anymore, so I have a feeling we can use it to pay off the merchant guy later."

Tea nodded before she resumed collecting the gold bars.

"So what about the others?" Fujino asked Kevin.

"They ought to be fine." Kevin replied. "Give or take a few minutes to make sure they're fine and not dizzy or anything, then we'll go and catch up with Agent Leon and the others who went ahead with him to the church we passed by a while ago."

* * *

><p>Lower Floor, Inside Church, outskirts of El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>When Leon and his group entered the "church" with their weapons at the ready, no one was inside to face them. In fact, it was pretty quiet.<p>

"This again?" Leon murmured.

"Looks clear." Hien told everyone as he looked inside while aiming his SS1-M5. "Although it's best to be on our guard."

"Are those the emblem of the cult?" Cammy asked as she spotted what appears to be the insignia of Los Illuminados on the red banners.

"It would seem so." Diana said as she and Java were the last ones to enter. The latter then closed the double doors behind them. "And the insignia seems to be on that glass pane up there."

"I don't remember Spain having a cult-based church like this, so I have a gut feeling that this place used to be Roman Catholic before the group took it over." Jill told the group as she went to check the pews to ensure they were clear.

Leon had lowered the Remington 870, even though the shoulder stock was still placed on his right shoulder. "Hold on a second. I'll go check the altar."

The blonde man went to check the altar for any signs of trap or hidden enemies, observing the circular logo of Los Illuminados. When he was near the altar, Leon turned around to see if the circular glass pane was illuminated by lights.

_Green, Red and Blue? Looks like they mix up together or something. And there's a portrait of a hooded man. Who is he?_

"All clear." Leon calmly replied after taking a good look at the portrait of the hooded man, who looked a bit sinister somehow. After seeing that the group gathered near the altar, he decided to tell them what he found out about the altar.

"Seems like the glass pane up there's illuminated." Leon pointed to the glass pane above him. "And the lights are lighting it up, so I think it could be another puzzle."

"Do we have any other place to go to?" Eriko asked Leon.

"Only place we can go to are the two side corridors near the main entrance behind us." Jean told the Japanese detective. "It's not much, but we may be able to get some place around this filthy church."

"Well it's not like we've got some other place to go to since this is the only building we haven't checked out yet." Diana gave her suggestion.

* * *

><p>Diana and Java went with Eriko to check the right corridor, finding a wooden barrel at the end. The caveman smashed it with a strong kick and discovered a flashbang. The detective took it and gave it to Leon, giving the former his thanks as he needed some grenades, flashbang or not.<p>

The others went to secure the left corridor, finding a metal corridor at the end. Cammy volunteered herself to secure the upper floor, executing a flip after jumping from the ground with a bit of momentum that she was able to get on top. A few seconds after scouting the floor and finding a metal gate that the Delta Red agent can't open, she went back to where the ladder was and told the others about the situation.

"Great." Leon sighed when he slinged the shotgun behind his back before the DSO agent began to climb up the metal ladder. "More problems for us."

* * *

><p>Plank Bridge, en route to Church, outskirts of El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"I don't like this bridge we're on."<p>

Martin groaned when he began to step on the wooden plank bridge that the blonde teenager since Kevin was the leader of the second team, now moving to head back to the church and rendezvous with Leon and company as fast as possible in order to make up for lost time.

"No time for complaining, kiddo." Kevin told Martin while having his gloved left hand grip the Glock 21 Mariner. "Can't afford to waste time since the others went ahead of us to secure the church." He was walking a bit fast than he usually does, although Kevin was being careful to make sure his boot-clad feet were on the planks least he wanted to fall off into the water and die of drowning.

"Why can't these crazies ever come up with a better bridge design?" Yu complained, having the G3A4 at the ready.

"No complaining." Kevin glared at the Japanese Spriggan operator while he had his Glock 21 Mariner at the ready. "Just be glad that you've got something to walk on."

"Yeah, yeah." The Spriggan huffed in response.

"Let us keep moving." Sho reminded Yu and the others as they navigated on the bridge. It was now nightfall when they were on the bridge en route to meet with Leon's group. Usually it would not be a problem if it was night. But considering that the plank bridge Kevin's group was on had no safety measures like railings and such, they needed to be careful or they can die by drowning or by knocked out/injured/killed by massive injures by the cliffside.

* * *

><p>Upper Floor, Inside Church, outskirts of El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"Another way."<p>

Cammy turned to the side and saw that there was another pathway on the other side of the church. It was located on the upper level and the only way to get there was by hopping on the chandelier above the pews.

The Delta Red went on her way, hopping on the chandelier and hopping off it when the momentum allowed her to do so. The red beret-clad woman looked to the left to see a dead end due to a metal gate blocking its path.

_Then I'll need to take the second option then._

Cammy made a run to the other side, which was also sealed off in a dead end. Otherwise, a couple of wooden barrels were present.

"HIYAH!" Cammy yelled out when she executed a roundhouse kick with her right leg, breaking the wooden barrels open. She found an incendiary grenade near her boots.

"Better keep this." She picked up the incendiary grenade for her own use before she eyed the console nearby, which the blonde woman had passed by earlier.

"What does this do?" Cammy pressed what seemed to be the power button, turning on red, green and blue lights. The woman studied where the light beams ended up.

* * *

><p>"Up there!"<p>

Diana pointed out the three light beams from the ground level of the church, illuminating three colored circles near one multicolored circle, having the shape of an inverted triangle.

"What's happening?" Jean asked the Canadian Center agent.

"I'm lost as to what the lights can do."

* * *

><p>Cammy went to work on studying the console, testing the buttons when she watched the colored circle turn. The Delta Red turned the circular dial that corresponded to the colored circle near the altar.<p>

"Bollocks." Cammy murmured in anger. "This'll take a while."

* * *

><p>Near Church, outskirts of El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"Okay." Kevin told his group as they already passed over the wooden plank bridge and made their approach towards the church's cemetery. "We're almost there. And for once, there aren't any enemies around the place."<p>

"Finally." Martin said in relief before he armed himself with his X-Staff as a precaution. "Now we're going to get somewhere."

Hiryu went near the church, checking the entrance by sweeping the place while having the HK G36C raised in case of any last minute surprise attacks. Yu went with him, being his comrade back when Hiryu was still a Spriggan. He too raised his HK G3A4 when he searched the area.

"Clear with the main entrance." Yu told the others after he and Hiryu stood by near the main doors of the church.

"Clear too with the cemetery." Fujino told the group after making a quick scan to see no villagers hiding.

"Let's not keep our colleagues waiting, shall we?"

Kevin told the group when he personally made his approach towards the main entrance, gripping his sidearm at the ready.

* * *

><p>Upper Floor, Inside Church, outskirts of El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Cammy diligently began her work on the console after answering question from her colleagues in the team that she was trying to decipher the lights, seeing that the red, green and blue circles were used as the colors for the multicolored circle in the inverted triangle formation.<p>

"Let's try this lot again." Cammy felt the frustration getting to her as she had combined the lights for the nth time, with no luck since the three lights didn't match up. "I'm running out of combinations, so let's try this from the very start so that I'm not confused."

She studied the colored glass panels with the respective colored lights still shining on them. Cammy pondered if she could somehow get the colored lights rotated with the console's dial to correspond with the multicolored glass panel.

"Well, it's worth a shot to try."

Cammy began her work on the dials, starting with the red light. Remembering the Los Illuminados insignia in the multicolored glass panel, Cammy turned the dial until the red light formed some sort of resemblance to the insignia. The British agent did the same thing to the green and blue lights before she pressed a button to combine the three lights together.

"Let's hope this works."

* * *

><p>MOM's Office, The Center<p>

* * *

><p>"What's this?"<p>

MOM took a hold of several surveillance photos taken from the "suspected" Center employee who had been meeting with a few suspicious persons in downtown Madrid. All of them were covertly taken by personnel from the Center's Security & Intelligence Division or the SID, which was created after the Center's establishment to tackle issues ranging from intelligence on groups or individuals who are after alien or paranormal objects or weapons for criminal/terrorist activities to internal investigation on Center personnel in cases where Center operations could be compromised or if they are working as a double or triple agent for another organization.

"Good work for the SID today." MOM told Billy when he entered her office. "It seems we have one suspect."

"I have his personal information." The small alien told his superior. "It should be in your PC terminal."

"Understood." MOM saw a clear photo of a man in white Center uniform. He looked East Asian with black hair and brown eyes. From the looks of his facial features, the man looked to be in his middle 30s.

"His name is Daisuke Sawamura with his English name being Jack." Billy began to debrief MOM on the suspect. "He just came to the Center from the Japanese Military Intelligence Command. Placed in charge of ensuring security for all teleportation equipment in our Spanish base."

"I don't recall him having any problems with money or anything else, Billy." MOM frowned when she reviewed Sawamura's personal data alongside the Madrid surveillance photos. "It's like he's got something to hide."

"I've told SID to keep up with the surveillance they've done in Madrid so far."

"Good work, Billy. And next time, tell SID to get good shots of who they were keeping contact with. I couldn't see the face too well aside from what looks like to be aviator-type shades."

"It could be that the man may be trying to avoid being taken by surveillance photos just in case." Billy frowned after hearing MOM's assessment. "I'll ask SID to get another run at the man's face just in case."

"Thanks a lot, Billy. That's appreciated."

* * *

><p>Upper Floor, Inside Church, outskirts of El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>After Cammy pressed the combine button, she watched the red, green and blue lights merge with the multicolored glass panel behind the altar.<p>

"It worked!" She shouted, glad that her hard work payed off when the three lights were able to copy the Los Illuminados insignia.

"That's great!" Leon shouted back after hearing Cammy's success.

Kevin and the others got in and greeted Leon's team before they heard the metal gates open up on the upper level.

"Yo!" Kevin gave a high five to Leon. "So I guess the metallic sounds I'm hearing means we got a way in this place?"

Leon nodded. "You bet."

"What are we waiting for?" Chun-Li said to everyone in the two teams once they gathered up. "Let's climb up the ladder once more before the enemy tries to hinder us."

"Let's go!" Leon took the lead in climbing up the ladder leading to the church's upper levels.

* * *

><p>Storage Room, Upper Floor, Inside Church, outskirts of El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Ashley Graham, the 20-year old daughter of President Graham of the United States of America and current university student of the University of Massachusetts, had been held captive by the Los Illuminados for god knows when. Ashley had been knocked out cold by chloroform by her captors after they received intelligence that "some people" would be present in the village to rescue her. So far the plan was to keep her moving in order to keep her rescuers from guessing exactly where she was held.<p>

"When do I get out of here?" murmured the blond girl, wondering if someone would save her from this mess.

Then, Ashley saw that the door was being opened. She instinctively went to the side to avoid being discovered.

"ASHLEY!" Ashley noted that the voice was not Spanish, but English. Her kidnappers spoke English, so the language didn't mean anything to her. The college student went to grab the nearest object that she can find.

In this case, this was a metal pipe. Albeit one that's already beginning to rust since it wasn't used for a very long time.

"WHOA!" Ashley threw it over the head of her supposed "captor", who turned out to be Kevin instead. Sho was near the DSO agent and as such, caught it with his left hand thanks to years of his ninja training.

"Careful, young lady." Sho told the First Daughter. "You know that someone could have gotten hurt if you threw that pipe to someone's face."

"You guys aren't my captors?" Ashley said when she saw the ninja toss the pipe aside after she leaned her back behind the wooden barrels.

"We're here to rescue you." Kevin told Ashley before he pointed the thumb to himself and then he frowned. "Well, some of us anyways if that's the case." He holstered his sidearm away afterwards.

"Some of us?" Ashley raised an eyebrow when she heard Kevin's explanation.

"We'll explain later."

"So this is the First Daughter I take?"

Ashley eyed Dan, who had entered the storage room as well. He activated his O-Watch, which scanned Ashley from top to bottom. She felt a bit nervous when she saw green light emit from the Malaysian SHADOW agent's watch, checking her entire body. It reminded her of her trips to the family doctor.

"Identity's officially confirmed." Dan says when the O-Watch noted of Ashley's identity. "Ashley Graham, First Daughter of President Graham of the United States of America and current student of the University of Massachusetts."

"Guess that's one thing down, huh?" Yu shouted from the outside of the storage room.

"Did my father sent you guys to rescue me?" Ashley asked Kevin.

Kevin shook his head. "Not all of us." Meanwhile, Dan kicked down the wooden barrels inside the storage room to check for any useful things. "Some of us are here for another mission or two."

The Malaysian managed to collect 1100 pesetas, .45 ACP and 9mm bullet boxes and a Green Herb. He kept the herb while he tossed the .45 ACP box to Kevin, which he gladly accepted.

"I'll explain it on the way out." Kevin told Ashley as he helped her get up from the floor. "I'll just warn you that you may get lost with their explanations..."

* * *

><p>Outside Storage Room, Upper Floor, Inside Church, outskirts of El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"Yo, Leon!"<p>

Kevin shouted to Leon, standing outside the storage room with most of the others. "I got Ashley and she's fine."

"Nice to hear." Leon nodded after hearing Kevin's mentioning of Ashley's welfare.

"And who is he?" Ashley asked Kevin.

"He's Leon and he works with me in the DSO."

"Pleased to meet you, Ms. Graham." Leon greeted Ashley when he shook hands with her.

"DSO?" Ashley asked after shaking hands with Leon. "I'll assume that's with the military?"

"Well it's best if we don't explain that part." Kevin said, scratching the back of his head.

"You'll need this." Dan tossed the 9mm bullet to box to Jill, which she gladly accepted and gave her thanks.

"Allow me to introduce ourselves." Diana went to introduce herself. "My name's Diana Lombard and this is my stepbrother Martin Mystery." She then pointed to Java. "That's Java. And he's a caveman." Diana pointed out Jill, who was standing next to Java. "That's Jill Valentine, one of the many survivors of the Raccoon City incident."

"Thanks for finding me." Ashley shook hands with Diana and then Jill. "Especially to Ms. Valentine. It's an honor to meet someone who survived such an incident."

"Hi..." Martin seem to be attracted. "Mind if I get your number after this crisis is over?"

"Martin!" She pulled Martin by her ear.

"Java pleased to meet you." Java shook hands with Ashley, having a firm grip but otherwise a relaxed one.

"Likewise." Ashley smiled at the caveman. _Is he really a caveman? I mean he doesn't look like one..._

"I'm Cammy White of Delta Red under MI-6." Cammy went to tell Ashley her name before she pointed out Chun-Li. "That's Chun-Li Xiang of INTERPOL China."

"A pleasure. I never know a lot of countries were involved."

"Believe us when we tell you the full story." Eriko grinned at Ashley. "Eriko Aizawa of the Japanese National Police Agency."

"I am Sho of the Commandos." Sho bowed before Ashley.

"A real super hero?" Ashley blushed, being before a known super hero. "I mean, thank you." She managed to get her words right, at least. "Thank you for finding me with Kevin and Leon."

"It was not a problem, Ms. Graham. All in a day's work."

"Yu Ominae, Jean Jacequemonde and Tea Flatte of the ARCAM Corporation." Tea introduced her group to Ashley. "I must say that you look really fine despite your ordeal."

"Believe me, I have my ways." Ashley shook hands with Tea. "The ARCAM Corporation? From what I know, you guys explore ancient ruins and preserve them to protect those places from exploitation." She raised an eyebrow. "Since when does a company like that allow its people to go commando like that?"

"If you think that's weird..." Jean huffed. "You ought to see the Almight Support Enterprises..."

"Forgive my friend." Yu went to cut off Jean's rambling. "But we're actually here on a covert mission like your DSO saviors are, so I don't think we're in a liberty to say anything."

Ashley decided not to ask further, remembering what Kevin mentioned a while ago.

_Maybe I can pry out the details later on those guys with the Center group..._

The college student noticed Hiryu, Hien and Dan, the trio just waiting on the side.

"Don't worry about them." Diana reassured Ashley. "They're on our side." She then glared at them. "They're just waiting on the action."

"What?" Dan moaned after hearing Diana's criticism.

"That's Dan, a colleague of mine from Malaysia and he's a SHADOW agent."

"Excuse me?" Ashley asked.

"That's black ops, but we're being used for firearms support as well." Hiryu told Ashley. "Codename Hiryu. Same division with Dan." He pointed to Hien. "My brother. Codename Hien. He's a Spriggan with ARCAM."

"Just note that we got mixed up in all this when we have other jobs in mind." Hien told Ashley bluntly. "But oh well, least it'll be good in the resume."

Leon fought the urge to slap his face after hearing what the masked Spriggan had said.

"Let's just... get out of here for now since we all got the chance to get acquainted and all." Kevin said after hearing what the masked brothers had said.

Hiryu shrugged before he offered to lead the way back down the lower floor of the church.

* * *

><p>Lower Floor, Church, outskirts of El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Hiryu and Hien simply leaped off from the upper floor to the lower position, landing in front of the ladder. The others did so likewise except for Ashley, who needed some assistance.<p>

"Eeppp..." Ashley yelled out a bit before Leon caught her after she hopped off the upper floor. "Thanks."

"Always glad to help." Leon told Ashley.

"I'm hearing movement near the altar." Jill told Leon, already having her Px4 Type F drawn out from her holster.

"How many?" Kevin asked Jill after getting his sidearm out.

"Don't know. But I'm kind of hearing someone..."

"Let's move out."

* * *

><p>Near Altar, Lower Floor, Church, outskirts of El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Jill and Kevin took the lead in securing the lower floor, but the two had encounter someone who they didn't expect to see.<p>

Especially if that someone appears to be cloaked with a hood covering his entire head and had a staff held on his right hand.

"Freeze!" Jill yelled at the hooded man, aiming her sidearm at him. Minutes later, Leon and the others showed up near the altar as well.

"Who the hell are you?" Kevin challenged the hooded man, pointing his pistol at him.

The hooded man responded by chuckling in delight after seeing Jill and Kevin aim their weapons at him.

"Well greetings to you all." The man said in a calm and well-mannered tone of voice. "If all of you must know, my name is Osmund Saddler. The master of this fine... religious community."

"Your community doesn't sound all that religious to me!" Martin shouted, showing him his clenched fist. "They attacked us for no reason for starters...!"

"Look on his chest!" Eriko shouted, pointing to the crest of the Los Illuminados. It was made in gold with fine stones encrusted on it.

"So it solves one mystery on who the true mastermind is." Kevin said.

"And so it seems that the reputation of my community is well-known." Saddler chuckled. "At least I will not need to introduce them..."

"Why are you doing this?" Yu aimed the G3A4 at Saddler's head.

"It is quite simple." Saddler calmly replied. "It's to demonstrate to the world our astounding power, of course."

"In that case," Hien went to talk snark at him. "couldn't you just do that at some magical show or something instead of wasting your time on doing a kidnapping? The Americans and INTERPOL won't take so kindly to that."

"But that is a part of my actions. You see, I wish to show the whole world that the United States cannot police the world any longer. So we kidnapped President Graham's daughters to give her... our power."

"Anti-Americanism at its finest." Jill sighed when she kept her sidearm trained at Saddler.

"You think that can solve anything?" Diana shouted at Saddler, not liking where this is going.

Ashley placed her hand on her neck, remembering something.

"You guys..." Ashley told the group. "I think they shot something into my neck."

"What the... hell did you do?" Dan snarled at Saddler when he aimed at Sport 552 at Saddler.

"We didn't do anything." Saddler grinned. "We just gave her a little present."

"That must be the parasite I was feeling in my system..." Tea told the group.

"It looks like my surprise has been foiled." Saddler said, as if he was sad. "But I'll tell you this. When the eggs hatch in your bodies, all of you will be my puppets. Alongside Ms. Graham of course after she goes home to her daddy. Not to mention the donations that I'll be able to get President Graham to have my organization running for a little while..."

"This looks like a serious case of kidnapping and extortion." Chun-Li said out loud.

"No it is not my dear." Saddler went to correct the Chinese woman. "This is... a part of a revolutionary way to propogate one's faith."

"I have one demand to make!" Hiryu aimed his G36C at Saddler. "And that demand is to get these damn monsters off our systems!"

Saddler didn't say anything. Instead, a couple of hooded monks came bursting in with crossbows aimed at the group.

Crossbows that had flaming crossbow boltheads attached.

"RUN!" Kevin yelled, grabbing Ashley by her right arm. Hiryu and Dan volunteered to stay behind, the former telling everyone to run for their lives and get the hell out by jumping through the nearby window nearby to escape.

"I'll start with them instead!" Hiryu shouted as he aimed the G36C's attached Bundeswehr-type 3x riflescope sight at the two monks.

"Ditto!" Dan said before the two SHADOW agents fired their carbines at the monks. The Malaysian teen used the red dot to fire at the heads of one of the monks while Hiryu just simply fired the G36C at full auto.

The two monks eventually died when they collapsed at the stairs leading to the front door. Hiryu hurled a smoke grenade near Saddler (Well, his unused one taken from the SHADOW armory) to mask their escape.

* * *

><p>Storage Area, Church, outskirts of El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"Everyone all right?" Kevin asked after he got up, checking himself for any open wounds. Eriko and Fujino helped Ashley to make sure that she was fine.<p>

"Looks like we're all okay." Leon said after removing glass shards from his arms without getting cut up in the process.

Martin told Java to smash up the wooden barrels and take whatever was there while Cammy and Chun-Li began to talk.

"So what now?"

"We get out of here. And then we figure out to get these... things the cultists injected into our bodies."

Eriko went to check the metal door and saw that it was now unlocked. Taking a peek outside, she gestured to Leon and Kevin that the outside was clear.

"Master!"

But that was before Hiryu rushed in to get the door open.

"Thank the kamis you're safe." Sho greeted his ex-student.

"We don't have time! There's trouble outside."

Java handed Martin a box of 5.56 NATO bullets, some pesetas worth 800 pesetas and a red herb.

"I'll save this for Dan." Martin said while he told Java to hand the red herb to Jill, who accepted it with thanks. Tea grabbed the pesetas for safekeeping.

"What is the trouble?" Sho asked.

"We've got a welcoming committee. The hostile type." Hiryu said after Eriko opened the metal door.

"Where are they?"

* * *

><p>Outskirts of Church, outskirts of El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Hiryu and Dan showed Leon and Kevin the cart left alone near the church.<p>

Alongside a bunch of villagers waiting at the bottom of the hill. All of them brandishing lit torches.

"What a welcoming committee..." Jean sighed. "All of that just to say hello?"

"Those barrels?" Ashley pointed out to Jean. "Can we try shooting them as a distraction?"

Jean grinned after hearing Ashley's suggestion. "You didn't need to tell me that twice, princess."

The French Spriggan agent shouldered the SPAS-12 and fired it in semi-automatic mode, watching the barrels explode as it began to run over the villagers since they were all taken by surprise.

Martin handed Dan a box of 5.56 NATO bullets as the villagers were being killed by the moving, burning cart. Except two villagers who were now approaching the church.

"Take this!" Yu aimed the G3A4 at the villager's torches, watching them burn. Leon, for his part, shouldered the Remington 870 and fired a couple of shots at the burning villagers.

"Alright!" Kevin yelled after seeing the burning villagers go down. "Let's move!"

The two teams made their way back to the empty house with the ladder, passing by the small hut to take down the wooden crates and get whatever was inside. Consisting of a small box of non-subsonic 7.62 NATO bullets and 1000 pesetas only.

* * *

><p>Cavern, Under Church, El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"Greetings to everyone!"<p>

The Merchant was happy to see the teams when they arrived back at the underground cavern, courtesy of Leon kicking the door open as a precaution now that the cult had their eyes on them.

"Was anyone here?" Kevin asked the Merchant. "Wait a second. Let me rephrase the question: Has anyone passed through this place a while ago?"

The hooded man frowned. "Not that I was aware of, strangahhh...!"

"It seems we can use this opportunity to catch our breath and check on our weapons." Sho suggested to the two teams.

"A good idea." Fujino agreed with the ninja commando. "I don't think we'll have an opportunity like this for a while."

"Agreed." Kevin said as he checked on the empty magazines for his Glock 21 Mariner. "For starters, I'll be busy for a few minutes to reload my sidearm here."

Some of the others wielding firearms began to check their weapons before they began to reload with how many box magazines they were carrying.

They all felt that it was an opportunity they needed to take before leaving this place.

* * *

><p>Ashley decided to take a break herself by leaning on the cavern walls. As much as she'd like to sit down, it was better to take the most available alternative when she could. For now, the blonde girl watched the others get ready by rearming themselves or buying healing items from the Merchant. Still, she saw Leon and Kevin apply the mixed herbs onto themselves to make sure that they were not sick or hurt in any way.<p>

"So it seems you're fancying yourself some trouble there, strangah."

Ashley saw that the voice belonged to the Merchant, who just waved at her after handing a couple of boxes containing 12 gauge shotgun shells to Leon and Jean, the former paying it off right away.

"I am." Ashley told the Merchant after she nodded. "Not to mention that this Saddler guy just... placed some strange thing in my body. Same thing with the others."

"I wish I can help you there, miss." The Merchant replied to Ashley after hearing her concerns. "However, I don't sell anything that can fight off an infection or a parasite. The first aid sprays I sell won't do you any good, except to heal up any open wounds you have."

"So what am I going to do?" Ashley sighed. "I'm sure it's a matter of time before all our free will is lost permanently." She mumbled in anger, remembering what Saddler had mentioned back near the altar.

"My only advise for you is to move on with your friends and work together to prevent yourself from being under Saddler's control." The Merchant gave Ashley his advise, pointing out the group with his right thumb. "May not be much, but it's the only thing I can think of."

"But there's one more thing I'd like to point out."

"Yes?"

"I notice..." Ashley moved close to the Merchant. "that your eyes don't seem to be that normal. What happened to them?"

"'Tis a long story to explain, strangah."

_I wonder if I should introduce myself properly to this... weird man._

* * *

><p>The two teams went to gather for a discussion while Ashley continued to speak to the Merchant. So far, the teams were now starting to discuss their operations after they were found by Saddler an hour ago.<p>

"What's going to happen next?" Cammy asked the group after everyone had gathered up. "Now that Saddler knows about us, we'll need to figure out how to get the contraptions the group placed on our bodies."

"Our only option is to move on and figure out something." Kevin said in response.

"And then what?" Hien asked.

"And then we go down and look for something or someone that can aid us in getting the organism from our bodies."

"But what about Ashley?" Eriko went to ask Leon and Kevin. "If what Saddler said is true, then you guys can't risk extracting Ashley out of this place."

"That part is true." Tea agreed with Eriko's assessment. "It'll be risky that Ashley is coming with us, but we'll have no choice for her at this point."

The others nodded in agreement.

"Well our mission objectives don't change at all." Yu said, pointing to himself, Jean, Tea and Hien.

"Same thing goes with us here." Martin said, pointing to himself, Diana and Java.

"Us two are just here as backup for these three." Dan said, pointing to Martin and Diana.

"Well for now," Leon said after hearing what the Spriggans and Center agents have mentioned. "let's move out of here. On the way, let's figure out if we can get some clues as to how we can get the parasite Saddler injected into us off permanently."

"But where do we go from here?" Diana asked Leon. "For one thing, we'll be heading back to the village up at the surface. Not to mention that it's too dark."

"Wish I bought a pair of decent NVGs with me." Hiryu sighed.

"Same here." Hien sighed.

"Bah, you two aren't the only ones." Yu looked at the balaclava-clad teenagers.

"Since we've already split the group into two teams, we can get one team to scout the village and check if it's clear before we can move out with Ashley." Sho offered a suggestion to the entire group.

"That is a good idea." Jill responded to Sho's suggestion. "I'll have to agree with Sho's suggestion."

"Likewise." Leon replied, nodding his head.

"So everyone's in agreement here then?" Kevin voiced himself after hearing agreements from Jill and Leon regarding Sho's suggestion.

When the ex-SPF officer saw collective nods, the brown-haired man decided to go along with the suggestion.

* * *

><p>The plan the teams agreed went like this:<p>

One team would leave the underground cave and push forward to secure the village and figure a way out of the area. The other team would stay behind (at least initially at first) to guard Ashley and cover the first team's rear guard from any potential enemy attacks.

For this to work, Leon decided to volunteer. The others in the second team didn't know if it was out of kindness or whether it was to take turns after Kevin and the others in his team went to look for Leon in the church.

* * *

><p>Outskirts of Church, outskirts of El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"It seems a mess has been out here."<p>

Ada had observed the outskirts of the church that had been previously used to hold Ashley prisoner from a nearby tree branch, scoping out the perimeter with his military-type binoculars. She went to zoom in on the metal door leading to the storage area, seeing that it had been open.

"I just hope those guys are able to get what they needed considering the parasite Los Illuminados placed on them."

The Asian-American woman went to make contact with Wesker regarding Ashley's escape from the church.

**"Wesker, it's me. There's something I need to tell you..."**

* * *

><p>Cavern, Under Church, El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Ashley watched as the group was now splitting up with Leon waiting for some of the other individuals in his team to get ready right away.<p>

"We'll see you later, brah."

Hien went to do a fistbump with Dan, who did the same likewise.

"Indeed. Terima Kasih, my friend."

"You can take the lead here." Kevin placed a hand onto Leon's left shoulder. "For a change..."

"Don't worry, Kevin." Leon reassured his colleague. "I'll contact you guys once the coast is clear afterwards."

"Good words to hear there."

Fujino handed a couple of first aid sprays to Jill and Eriko after Tea gave the Japanese SHADOW agent some pesetas to buy them.

"Good luck, master." Hiryu bowed in front of Sho, who also bowed.

"No need to worry." Sho reassured Hiryu. "I shall return."

"Ready to give a beating to those bad guys?" Martin asked Java, grinning.

"You bet, Martin." Java smacked his clenched fist into his palm.

"I guess we'll see you guys later." Diana addressed, who already got his SPAS-12 ready.

"Heh." Jean grinned. "No need to worry. I'll show those cultists the strength of Jean Jacquemonde." The blonde man grinned further. "Prince of the Spriggan brigade."

Yu and Hien went to facepalm after hearing Jean's boast.

* * *

><p>Outskirts of Church, El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"Now what?"<p>

Kenny and Krauser were now examining the church near the graveyard, being alerted by Saddler of the group's presence. The former had asked after he was summoned by Krauser.

"I don't know really." Krauser sighed, stretching his muscular arms. "Except to hunt them down and kill them. After all, we are mercenaries hired by the man himself."

"What about the others?"

"I'll alert the others when Saddler will tell us to move in and take them down. As we speak, Octavia getting a hybrid creature from the CIHL ready to be implanted with a parasite from the cult to even our odds."

"You think we'll win?" Kenny asked. _Does this mean that I'll not be able to __help the others from here on end?_

"I don't care if that damn creature Octavia's cooking up is going to help us. As long as we can do what Wesker needs, then I've got nothing to worry about. Do you?" Krauser felt confident when he was replying to Kenny's question.

Kenny felt a bit nervous. "Guess not."

* * *

><p>Cavern, Under Church, El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"Jumpa Lagi!"<p>

Dan gave the two-finger salute as he was the last to leave the cavern alongside Leon, who told Ashley to be careful and stay put with Kevin's group until they got the all-clear to proceed to the surface in El Pueblo. Kevin went to lend Leon the SSG P IV and all of the subsonic ammo he has with him. In return, Leon handed Kevin the Remington 870 and all the 12 gauge shells he got. Before the blonde man left, Kevin warned him to "be safe".

"So how long is the wait going to be?" Ashley went to ask the nearest person. In this case, this was Chun-Li.

"I'm not really sure myself." Chun-Li replied with a shrug. "Coupled with the fact that it's evening and most of us don't have night vision equipment, it'll be hard for us to get the drop on the enemy."

"I have the utmost confidence that Leon's group will be able to take care of any enemy stragglers in the village should they be found lingering around." Sho told the blonde college student with confidence, his arms crossed around his chest.

Ashley slowly nodded. "I sure hope that you're right."

"When the master says what it is, then he's right after all."

Hiryu spoke up in support of his master from the side, already gripping the sling of his G36C.

"Leon's shooting skills may be a bit lower than me back in the agency, but I trust his shooting skills with the SSG P IV." Kevin said with confidence. "Besides, I think he'll be the one whose going to get the jump on those crazy villagers."

Fujino and Martin simply went to sit down on the floor, feeling a bit tired from all the action the two Center agents encountered so far.

A loud beep came from Hiryu's O-Watch. The masked SHADOW agent excused himself as he went to another part of the cavern to get some wanted privacy.

* * *

><p><strong>"Agent Hiryu reporting in, MOM."<strong>

Hiryu pressed a button on his Center-issued O-Watch, making a holographic image of MOM appear alongside Billy.

**"How are things in Spain, agent Hiryu?" **MOM asked, waiting for a reply while she clasped her hands, seated near her desk.

**"Bad. Really bad." **Hiryu replied. **"Los Illuminados has infected us with some kind of organism when my group was initially captured. We're not sure what kind of organism it is, but it's got everyone on the edge, including the President's daughter herself."**

**"Is she infected?" **Billy went to question Hiryu.

Hiryu nodded. **"Yes she was unfortunately. Right now, we're moving out to get a lead away from Saddler. I doubt the Americans will have her extracted covertly at this point, considering our current situation."**

**"And I'll assume you're feeling some of the effects?"  
><strong>

Hiryu nodded.**  
><strong>

**"Your new orders for you, Dan and Fujino." **MOM sighed before she spoke to Hiryu. **"Find out how to get the parasite off your bodies. And if you do find some of these parasites being kept for future use..."**

The masked agent stared at the hologram as he awaited for the orders of MOM.**  
><strong>

**"I want you three to have them destroyed at once. We can't risk having someone steal them if the Center gets the unused parasites into custody. If anyone tries to interfere, you have full permission to use lethal force should it be found necessary. Is that clear?"**

_At least some of our orders are still the same...  
><em>

**"Understood, MOM. I'll relay the orders to them once I'm able to regroup."**

Chapter 7 END

* * *

><p>PS - Give me a hell yeah for Resident Evil 6! News on the game came out on my birthday! Awesomeness... Now I don't know if I wanna extend my fanfic writing to include RE6. But I guess I'll see depending on what the story is, especially since I have a gut feeling that it'll be connected with Revelations.<p>

Following someone's recommendation, I'll split the party into teams to make future chapters less confusing. Guess I better list down who's who on the team's so that things won't get confusing on the rest of the story since a lot of good guys in play.:

Team 1 - Hien, Leon, Diana, Java, Jean, Cammy, Jill, Eriko, Dan

Team 2 - Hiryu, Sho, Fujino, Martin, Kevin, Yu, Tea, Chun-Li

Anyway, I don't know if there will be changes. Most likely possible, but it's possible too that nothing will take place. Except for one person or two. I await your reviews and all. Any corrections/mistakes, please let me know ASAP so's I can correct them immediately, thank you. Have a good day! ;)

I apologize for a late update. Aside from university priorities, I went to read up on a lot of comics and then some new movies to watch on the side. I also got Binary Domain in the mail today too, so hell yeah!


	8. Complications

Resident Evil/Biohazard: Hostage Rescue

Rating: T

NOTE:

All characters of Resident Evil/Captain Commando/Street Fighter are under the copyright of Capcom. All characters of Martin Mystery are under the copyright of Marathon. All characters of Kara no Kyokai are under the copyright of TYPE-MOON. All characters of Spriggan are under the copyright of Hiroshi Takashige and Ryoji Minagawa. All characters of Jiraishin are under the copyright of Tsutomu Takahashi. The appearance of Kenneth "Kenny" Feng is under noctorro's jurisdiction. All others are under my jurisdiction.

Summary:

The teams have worked together to save Ashley from Los Illuminados' custody. However, Saddler has revealed that parasites have been covertly inserted into their bodies. Will they be able to get out of the area and ensure Ashley's safety and theirs as well? Stay tune to this chapter to find out.

Chapter 8: Complications

* * *

><p>Cavern, Under Church, El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Ashley went to rest by sitting down on the cavern floor, being tired from running ever since Leon, Kevin and their allies freed her from Saddler. The First Daughter saw that Kevin and the others were seated at the other side of the cavern, trying to rest as well since most of them didn't have the opportunity to get some rest ever since they were deployed to the Spanish countryside.<p>

She sighed while watching what Kevin and his group was doing. Kevin decided to get some sleep, putting his back on the cavern wall while putting his hands on Leon's Remington 870 should there be any attack. Yu and Martin did so likewise, sleeping as well for the past 10 minutes. The only ones awake were Hiryu, Sho, Fujino, Tea and Chun-Li.

Sho and Chun-Li got busy by engaging in a mock fight as a warm up and test each other's fighting skill. Ashley had been a fan of the Street Fighter tournaments in her younger days, but not before she fought out that Shadowlaw (or Shadoloo) had bankrolled the tournament from behind everyone's back. Even with this revelation, she had been a fan of a few of the participants like Ryu and Ken for instance. Tea, in the meantime, took her time to meditate and relax as a way of relieving the stress the British Spriggan had been under since the crisis began.

As for Fujino, the Reien Girls Academy student had went to use her O-Watch to check for any information regarding Los Illuminados. So far, there has been little information the SHADOW agent could effectively used since the entry had a lot of blanks aside from a message sent to Fujino and Hiryu that analysts are working on getting the needed information from the Center's Spanish agents.

"Care for some water?"

Ashley noted that the Merchant had sympathetically handed her a bottle of water. Evian no less.

"Um, thank you." Ashley thanked the hooded man as she took the bottled water.

"Is there anything you need to ask?" The Merchant asked.

"Not really." Ashley shook her head before she opened the bottled Evian. "Just seeing that some of those guys are taking it easy."

"Could be their way of coping. After all, I'm pretty sure they didn't get enough time to sleep it off."

* * *

><p>"Anything?"<p>

Fujino asked Hiryu, who sighed as he was seated on the cavern floor next to Fujino.

"I'm not sure." Hiryu replied as he checked his O-Watch to see if it was still working. "Pretty sure the American government's doing a good job with the media blackout on Ashley's abduction. Though I'm sure that it won't last long."

"It will place some burden on MOM-san back in the Center." Fujino surmised if the media blackout eventually collapsed back in America.

Hiryu nodded at Fujino's assessment. "I doubt event the BSAA will be able to handle that much." He sighed. "I'm still damn reckless even though I went to sleep a few minutes ago. Goddamn parasite..."

"Please be patient, Hiryu-san." Fujino told the masked SHADOW agent, understanding his impatience. "I'm sure that we'll find a way to remove the parasite from our bodies."

"Yeah, I know." Hiryu felt that he was sweating. Otherwise, he seemed fine.

The Spriggan veteran looked at the side to see how if Kevin, Yu and Martin were still sleeping. So far, they still are.

_I wish I could sleep as long as those guys._

* * *

><p>Somewhere in El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Jean had a smirk on his face when he fired his Franchi SPAS-12 with his left hand alone as he finished off a pitchfork-armed villager after Eriko had shot the charging villager on the left leg.<p>

"Now we're done." The French Spriggan said after the villager dissolved, dead from being shot by several buckshots.

The blonde man raised an eyebrow when he saw another villager shot in the head before it completely exploded to reveal a parasite. While Jean had though of firing his shotgun, he saw the parasitic head explode once more, killing the villager.

"Looks like Kevin's sniper rifle does have some perks after all." Leon smirked after he reloaded the Steyr SSG P IV. While he didn't like it was raining, the DSO agent had like say. Not that it was affecting his hairstyle anyway.

"What's next?"

Leon turned around and saw that Diana and Java were finished clearing the village of any villagers, which also includes securing anything of valuable importance.

"This." Eriko pointed the pathway behind Jean. "But it seems to be filled with animal trappings."

"How quaint." Jean smirked. "But I think we should get the others now. We can use Tea's help around here."

"Right." Leon nodded. "I'll make contact with the others still clearing out the village."

* * *

><p>Cavern, Under Church, El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"Hm?"<p>

Kevin began to wake up from his nap when the brown-haired DSO agent heard a beeping noise come from his phone. Although it wasn't very loud to disturb his colleagues, the man knew that someone was trying to contact him.

"Is it Leon?" Kevin said before he yawned and got his phone. When he was able to establish communication, he saw that it was Leon on the other line.

**"Leon?" **

**"Hope you weren't sleeping too long, Kevin."  
><strong>

Kevin glared at the screen. "Of course not, Leon." He then signaled to the others that Leon had made contact with the group. **"So what's going on?"**

**"We're able to clear off the village again and gather up some things we can pick up. And..."  
><strong>

**"And?"  
><strong>

**"Jill and Cammy have tried to scout the only path out of the place since the path we used to get to the village doesn't make sense. But it's filled with animal trap. Though we could use some help."  
><strong>

**"Alright. Just secure the area. I'll get the others to move out."  
><strong>

"Is it time to go?" Martin said as he woke up.

"Okay people!" Kevin shouted. "Resting time's over! We need to get out of here."

"I'll see you strangahs later." The Merchant said his goodbyes as the group began to move out of the cavern. Ashley stood up from the cavern floor and ran up to the group, ready to move out beside Hiryu and Fujino.

* * *

><p>Outside Church, El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Leon was the first to greet Kevin's group when they came of the "church" in the El Pueblo. It was still raining, although not strong.<p>

"So you say that animal trappings are in the only path we can use to get out of here?" Kevin asked Leon, who nodded to confirm his answers.

"I shall handle this." Tea told her allies as she walked towards the dirt path that had animal trappings. The British woman had a smirk on her face as soon as she visually confirmed the presence of the said traps.

"What's she going to do?" Ashley directed her question towards the Spriggans when she saw Tea standing near one of the animal traps.

"Just watch." Yu smirked. "This is one of her specialties."

A few seconds later, Tea used her psychic powers to render the animal traps useless. The teams heard several clanging sounds in the process.

"Wow..." Jill was amazed to what Tea did to render the traps useless. "That is amazing..."

"That's not all I can do actually." Tea told Jill after she rendered the traps useless.

"All right." Martin said. "Looks like we can move on."

Unfortunately for Martin, a few villagers came on the dirt road nearby from houses on both sides of the animal trap-based dirt road.

"This never gets old." Hiryu sighed before he pointed to Hien and himself. And then to the incoming villagers ahead.

The masked SHADOW agent shouldered his HK G36C and fired it at the incoming villagers. Hien supported his brother after he shouldered and fired his Pindad SS1-M5 Commando. The two positioned themselves on both sides of the road to maximize their chances of killing the villagers. Leon joined in and fired the Remington 870.

* * *

><p>MOM's Office, The Center<p>

* * *

><p>MOM was getting more and more frustrated with new surveillance photos Billy SID agents had collected from a recon mission in downtown Madrid, this time in a five-star hotel in the lobby cafe. The head of the Center really was frustrated by how the suspect's contact was able to make himself unseen through their cameras. Like he knew they were there in the first place.<p>

Unless...

**"Billy." **MOM went to contact Billy via earpiece. **"I need you to come to my office right away."**

While the head of the Center waited for Billy to come to her office, she studied the photographs carefully, wondering if the shades-wearing man is someone she knows.

"Sorry I'm late."

Billy arrived in his hover chair, greeting MOM.

"There you are." MOM handed him a sample of the SID surveillance photograph. "Take these and ask SID to run matches on anyone out there. Especially to anyone who may have old ties with Umbrella."

* * *

><p>Dirt Path, Near Church, El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"All clear."<p>

Hien said as he lowered his SS1-M5, content to see the last villager gunned down.

"You guys able to collect anything?" Hiryu asked when he was reloading his G36C.

"Just some money around 1,700 pesetas and a few grenades." Diana told Hiryu after she handed the money to Tea for safekeeping.

"Let's keep moving." Leon advised his allies, running towards the gate up ahead while reloading his Remington 870.

"Java! Do your thing." Martin told the caveman as he began to approach the gates.

Java nodded and opened one of the gates wide open, allowing the teams to enter the farming areas of El Pueblo.

* * *

><p>Farm Area, El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>The area was dark around the farmland, considering that it was also raining still with no signs of stopping.<p>

"We'll need to split up." Kevin advised Leon before looking at Ashley, who was standing behind Eriko and Jill. "And about her..."

"Yeah, I know." Leon nodded, sharing Kevin's concern.

Yu and Jean moved in towards a small shack, which revealed only a memo inside written in Spanish. Since Eriko was the only person who has fluency in Spanish, the ARCAM Spriggans brought the memo to her and have her analyze it.

**The whereabouts of Sera are still unknown. **

**Most likely he's using an old secret passage taught to him by his grand father who used to hunt in this region long ago. I'm pretty certain that he's hiding our property somewhere in the forest. If his grand father was still alive, i would have used him to find Sera...**

** But how did he find out about the egg injected into his body? And the fact that he was able to remove it before it hatched is concerning. Another factor that concerns me is that Sera escaped with our property just before the American agents arrived with individuals from the police/intelligence agencies of Japan, Britain and even Interpol. I don't believe that was just a coincidence. There has to be another player involved in this.**

** In order to settle this whole situation, we have to capture Sera and wait for the effects of the drug to wear off before we inject him with another egg. Once this is done, whoever is behind all of this will surface. Nobody shall interfere with our plans. Those who do shall suffer severe consequences.**

"It seems our enemies are getting desperate." Eriko told the teams after reading through the note. "Especially since another party's involved against the cult."

"You mean another party?" Kevin asked before he sighed. "Shit, this is no good."

"Looks like we'll have to inform Hunnigan on this later." Leon told Kevin.

"It means we'll have to keep moving." Jill told the DSO agent. "The problem is those villagers will probably be posted around here to block our path."

Yu eyed on the side a red dumpster that seemed to be old and somewhat falling apart.

"Give me a second." He aimed his HK G3A4 to the dumpster before moving a bit close to open the dumpster. When the Japanese Spriggan agent peered inside, he nodded to himself and noted that it was clear. Despite the fact that it looked a bit dirty in the dumpster's interior and everything.

"Looks clear." Hiryu said after he took a look at the dumpster. He went to tell Leon about the dumpster when Ashley began to object.

* * *

><p>MOM's Office, The Center<p>

* * *

><p>Billy immediately came back to MOM's office with a printout for the Center head to read.<p>

"I don't think you're going to believe this, MOM." Billy said as he gave the handout to MOM.

"Believe me, I'll try to believe anything." MOM told the alien before she got the handout from him and read its contents.

"I don't believe it." The black-haired woman said in shock. "We had reports that this man was dead."

"Not unless he or someone close to him gave him some kind of virus that allowed him to survive death."

"That may be possible."

MOM studied the printout long and hard to see who the man the double agent was meeting with.

_Albert Wesker._

* * *

><p>Farm Area, El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"We'll go ahead and clear the place out." Kevin told Leon before he ported the SSG P IV. "And hand us the grenades 'cause we'll need them."<p>

Dan handed to Yu and Hiryu three flashbangs. "Aside from these, it's all we got."

"Look, start saving some grenades and whatnot when you can, okay?" Yu gave his advise to Dan. "We don't want to be caught in a situation where we could use these in a pinch."

Dan nodded. "Right."

"Will you be alright?" Diana asked Fujino as everyone else in Kevin's team was getting prepared to gear up and secure the farm area once more for the other team. Tea and Chun-Li were persuading Ashley to get in the dumpster and hide in there so that she wouldn't get hurt or killed if a firefight should break out.

"I'll be alright, Diana-sempai." Fujino told the Canadian teenager. "Do not worry about me."

"Let's get going!" Kevin told his teammates as they ran up alongside him, moving out to clear out the farm. "I'll take the lead, you guys search the place and be the rearguard."

He shouldered the SSG P IV and eyed a villager armed with a torch before giving him a head shot with a subsonic 7.62 NATO bullet in the forehead.

* * *

><p>MOM's Office, The Center<p>

* * *

><p>"But MOM..." Billy was taken aback by the printout provided by the SID. "This can't... be. The RPD and STARS reported that he died before the crisis in Raccoon City in '98."<p>

"At this point, everything's off the table." MOM told her subordinate. "Someone close to him, most likely Umbrella gave him a virus to help him survive."

"Well... SID did determine that he worked with a William Birkin once before he was a double agent with the STARS unit."

"What's his status?"

"He's dead, MOM. He was said to be killed before the crisis started."

"Most likely by Umbrella, no doubt. Not that we can interrogate a dead person now."

"Should we tell the others?"

"Not yet. Let's keep using our double agent first before we let SID arrest him. It's too risky. He may try to tap into our communications for his benefactors."

"Understood."

"Although I may have an idea..."

* * *

><p>Farm Area, El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>As Leon and the others in his team assisted Ashley in hiding by helping her get inside a dumpster, Kevin and his team had systematically cleared out the farm land of any stragglers.<p>

_Over there!_

Kevin gestured to his allies the barn up ahead, which was the only place that the team did not clear yet.

_Understood._

Yu and Hiryu gave the thumbs up. Sho had his ninjato drawn out. Fujino and Martin accessed their Watches to draw out I-Cutters. Tea and Chun-Li chose to stay behind. As they gathered up near the outskirts of the barn's door entrance, Yu leveled his G3A4 at the entrance and observed two villagers were inside. He gestured to Kevin the number of hostiles he saw.

Kevin nodded and raised his Glock 21 Mariner and aimed the sights at the villager inside the barn. When the DSO agent opened fire, he saw the villager trying to charge at him.

Except that he accidentally stepped on one of the animal traps inside, restraining his left leg. The villager had a hard time trying to remove his leg, despite the fact that their own trap was inside the barn to ensure that intruders would be swiftly caught.

"Go!" Hiryu fired the G36C in single shot mode at the female villager's legs before she could charge in with her sickle. After she fell down to the ground, Sho came in and delivered the final blow by stabbing the woman at the back of her head.

Meanwhile, Tea used her psi powers to disable the rest of the animal traps inside the barn so that they can get inside safely.

* * *

><p>Command Center, DSO Headquarters, somewhere in the United States of America<p>

* * *

><p>Hunnigan was getting restless as always, being the official line for Kevin and Leon back in DSO or the Division of Security Operations. So far, only a few DSO personnel manned the command center as a way of preventing leaks from reaching Los Illuminados when the FBI's investigation into Ashley's kidnapping revealed the possibility of double agents working within her Secret Service security detail.<p>

_When will Kevin and Leon report in? I know that there's suppose to be radio silence unless it's either an emergency or the top brass says it's fine..._

Hunnigan sighed and took off her eyeglasses to massage her nasal bridge.

"When this is over, I'll go and ask for some vacation time."

"Anything?"

Hunnigan turned around and wore her glasses, seeing a Caucasian man in his early 50s with glasses like her. The man wore a suit, ties and Oxford shoes.

"I'm afraid not, sir."

She noted Adam Benford standing behind her, a senior DSO agent who had recruited Leon and Kevin after they agency got wind of their escape from the Raccoon City crisis. While the former agreed if DSO can take Sherry Birkin into custody, Kevin joined in DSO because he was willing to put a stop to anyone conducting bioterrorism and because of the salary that came with it. Adam also served as their handler after the two were recruited.

Adam sighed. "This is not good. I've read the reports, which confirmed agents Kennedy and Ryman with some parasite placed in their bodies." He saw Hunnigan nod before he continued. "And with this parasite also in Ms. Graham, this is turning into a goddamn nightmare. A nightmare that I don't like."

"I'm aware of that, sir." Hunnigan replied, sharing Adam's concerns.

The DSO veteran nodded. "How long 'til the next communication, Ms. Hunnigan?"

Hunnigan looked at the wall clock mounted on the side, showing the times of various cities around the globe. "I would say until two hours or more until I can make contact with them." She asked. "Are there still fears of double agents working behind our back alongside the cult?"

"Indeed." Adam replied. "If this gag order didn't come from the President, I could have ordered our tactical units to be covertly deployed in the suspected village and sweep it until we can find the First Daughter."

"If only we could have more manpower at this time..."

"I apologize, but the top brass wants to have little people working the case as much as possible, at least until they can find out if double agents are working with Ms. Graham's kidnappers. Same goes with the Secret Service."

"Will we be able to cure them?"

"I wish I could just say yes to any question that asks if we can do something about it."

* * *

><p>Farm Area, El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"All clear!"<p>

Kevin shouted as he went inside the barn, aiming the Glock 21 Mariner before Yu and Hiryu followed. Martin whistled loud for Leon to hear, enabling him to get Ashley out of hiding from the dumpster while Kevin would search the barn for pesetas and some ammunition.

"Okay?" Hiryu asked, lowering his G36C when no villagers were found, watching the rear.

"Okay much." Kevin replied. "Some pesetas worth 1000 and some green herbs." He hurled to Hiryu a box of 5.56 NATO ammo. "A box of 5.56 NATO ammo, which I know would not be allowed to the ordinary EU national."

"Like I'd care." Hiryu sighed as he caught the box. Kevin also hurled to Yu a box of 7.62 NATO ammo while he kept a box of .45 ACP ammo for himself and saved a box of 9mm Parabellum for whoever needs it.

"I could search the rest of this place." Sho offered Kevin a proposal. "For now, cover me..."

* * *

><p>Sho arrived at the gate up ahead at the end of the farming area, armed with his ninjato when he encountered a torch-wielding villager. Hoping over the fence, Sho executed a spinning kick that made the villager step a few feet back until he stepped onto an animal trap that trapped his right leg in.<p>

The ninja commando executed several slashes on his body, forcing the villager to drop his torch. It subsequently burned the man up as the dropped torch lit up his dirty clothes.

"All clear!"

Sho shouted before slashing the nearby wooden box open, revealing nothing. The ninja sighed in frustration while whipping his ninjato left and right to ensure that contaminated blood would not stay on its blade for long.

"What a persistent opponent." Sho said to himself before he sheathed the ninjato at the saya strapped at his back.

* * *

><p>MOM's Office, The Center<p>

* * *

><p>For now, MOM told Billy to leave her office while she began to go over the orders she gave to her SHADOW agents.<p>

One of them, at least originally, was for the SHADOWs to covertly assassinate anyone involved with the Los Illuminados. Given that Wesker was unofficially alive, he would try everything that he can do to ensure that a parasite sample can be secured from the cult. Given that problem, MOM was not ready to take any chances.

MOM had planned to use the double agent to see if the Center can gain more information from Wesker before the shades-wearing man would see that his double agent had outlived his usefulness and have the man disposed of.

"Let's see if he can do the job..."

Opening the folder that had the stamped words CLASSIFIED, MOM went over the photographs of the people known to be involved with the cult.

Among the photographs she has the image of Luis Sera, whose photo was taken somewhere in Pontevedra province in the autonomous community of Galicia.

* * *

><p>Farm Area, El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>The two teams gathered up in front of the gate alongside the traps that Tea had psychically disabled once the British woman had arrived.<p>

"Can we open this gate?" Leon asked, pointing to the gate ahead.

"Not from here." Sho replied. "It seems that whoever made this gate wanted only access from one side."

"So who's going to do that?" Kevin asked the ninja before he handed the box of 9mm bullets to Eriko, who thanked the DSO agent.

"Allow me." Sho insisted when he ran for the gate. He followed this with a high jump that enabled him to land on top of the gate. Sho jumped down on the other side and used his ninjato to cut the 2x6 lumber piece blocking the gate on the other side. The ninja then opened the gate, allowing his allies access to the other side.

"Path is clear, but we need to move." Sho advised, pointing to some light out in the distance.

"Don't tell me..." Leon muttered as he was the first to step through the newly opened gate.

* * *

><p>Dirt Road, outskirts of El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Leon and Kevin took the lead in stepping on the wooden rope bridge a few minutes after walking on the dirt road. It looked good somehow and it was supporting their weight. Including Java's.<p>

"I'm surprised that we can all walk across this bridge and survive." Leon told Kevin, gripping his Silver Ghost.

"I'm actually quite surprised that we got a well-refined caveman who's on our side." Kevin smirked at Leon. "We can greatly use his help."

"Agreed."

After they got off the wooden bridge, the two DSO agents received an incoming transmission from Hunnigan.

**"Something the matter, babe?" **Kevin greeted Hunnigan, making the woman groan in response.

**"I've got some bad news that you two need to know." **Hunnigan told the two agents, being serious and all.

Leon sighed. **"I'd much prefer that we don't heard it."**

**"I'm afraid you guys have to.** Hunnigan insisted. **"Someone was able to shoot down one of our choppers meant to extract you and the First Daughter. We don't know who did it, but we know that the pilot and co-pilot didn't survive this attack."**

**"With a MANPAD?"  
><strong>

**"Yes. That's what the pilots reported as the cause of the chopper being downed before DSO lost communication with them."  
><strong>

**"Double agents?" **Kevin asked.

Hunnigan nodded. **"Agent Benford's suggesting this possibility, so we're going to get another one ready as soon as security checks are made."**

**"Can we still extract?" **Leon questioned Hunnigan after hearing out what she said. **"Considering that we're infected."**

**"I understand that. Agent Benford's trying to make the case to the president and to the National Security Council to hold off the extraction until you guys can be cured."  
><strong>

**"That's good to hear at least, Hunnigan."  
><strong>

**"And how are the others?"  
><strong>

**"Alive I suppose.** Kevin told Hunnigan. **"Although like us, they want the parasite removed from their bodies before it permanently crosses to the point of no return."**

**"Understood. I'll be in touch in an hour or two. We'll do our best in DSO to root out any double agents. Just contact me if there's an emergency since radio silence is still in effect. Hunnigan out."  
><strong>

"Something wrong?" Chun-Li asked after Leon and Kevin ended communication with Hunnigan.

"Well we can't extract out of here since our chopper's been downed with a MANPAD." Leon told the Interpol officer. "Which gives the possibility that traitors are abound within DSO."

"So what now?" Jill went to ask Leon for what's next.

"We move on. At least extraction's going to be delayed for me and Kevin until we can find a way to get the parasite off our bodies."

The teams continued to walk on in silence for another few minutes. Until they found the familiar flaming pillars they saw on the cavern.

"Why are you here?" Hiryu pointed at the Merchant, nearly shouting at him.

"Surprised to see me strangah." The Merchant laughed a bit. "It's like you don't want to see me here."

"Not really." Eriko replied. "It's just we saw you back in the cavern a few hours ago."

"So how'd you get to the outskirts of the village if we didn't see you in the first place?" Cammy asked the Merchant, wondering if some "other" force was at work in the rural parts of Spain.

The Merchant pointed his left index finger at Cammy before he gave a sigh and waved his finger. "It's a trade secret that I'm willing to risk by revealing it publicly strangah."

"We could rearm ourselves with the ammo we got while getting some first aid sprays since our herbs aren't enough." Diana suggested. "After all, we got a few herb combinations with us."

_We only got a bunch of combined greens with a few green/red and green yellows. _Kevin thought, remembering the herbs the groups had stockpiled.

"Then I'd be willin' to sell ya my stock of first aid sprays at a good price, strangahs..." The Merchant went to bargain with the teams. "After all, you strangahs are my only customers in the backwoods of this country."

"As long as it's a good deal..." Leon told the Merchant. He then turned to Tea, who told him that they sold all the Spinels they stockpiled.

* * *

><p>Command Center, DSO Headquarters, somewhere in the United States of America<p>

* * *

><p>"Anything?"<p>

Adam came back to see Hunnigan after she previously made contact with Leon and Kevin.

"I've just made contact with them, agent Benford." Hunnigan replied to Adam. "They've said that they're fine, but insisted that they're not to be extracted until they can get the parasite off their bodies."

"Good thing I'm not the only one who's trying to fight off the president's stubborn request to have the First Daughter extracted out of Spain." Adam sighed in relief.

"The agents also mentioned that their allies are also fine as well." Hunnigan added.

Adam nodded. "So I see. I've been getting calls from MI6, the Japanese National Police Agency and with Interpol on the matter after they lost contact with their people. Unlike the president and the NSC, they've agreed that it's unwise to get them out of Spain until they can inquire on how they can be cured."

"Will they be sending their people to HQ?" Hunnigan asked Adam while taking off her glasses to clean the lenses with her handkerchief.

"Not without creating some buzz throughout the media." Adam shook his head. "Not only that, but it'll blow the lid of the media blackout the NSC has been trying to implement to prevent any double agents from reporting in to the cult."

Hunnigan was silent, agreeing with Adam's assessment.

"Right now, that's one way to prevent a leak to the hands of a potential double agent if we keep the circle very small."

* * *

><p>Dirt Road, outskirts of El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>While mostly everyone were busy stockpiling whatever first aid sprays they got from the Merchant in addition to reloading their empty magazines, Eriko went to see the Merchant as she had fired her Sig Sauer P228 only for a few times. However, Jill insisted that she take a box of 9mm Parabellum bullets just in case she needs to reload later on.<p>

"Excuse me, may I have a word?" Eriko asked the Merchant after he had just handed a Tricell first aid spray to Jill.

"Can I help you today, strangah?" The Merchant asked Eriko. The Japanese detective noted that the man wasn't that scary. Even if his eyes are not... quite that human anymore.

"I was wondering if you do also sell communication devices with you today?" The detective questioned the Merchant calmly.

The hooded man eyed Eriko for a few seconds, taking into account her question before the Merchant replied courteously.

"I certainly think so, strangah." The Merchant went to search his wooden backpack. "Just give me a second while I look and see if I have one with me."

The hooded man continued to rummage through his wooden backpack until he was able to find a satellite phone. This phone looked like the mobile phones used by people once in the 1990s, which also included a retractable antenna.

"This would be around 8,000 pesetas."

Eriko told the Merchant to wait while she informed Tea that they can get their hands on a satellite phone for the cost of 8,000 pesetas.

"Alright." The British Spriggan told the Merchant before handing 8,000 pesetas. "We're only short of at least around 50 pesetas since we bought some first aid sprays from you."

"That'd be alright." The Merchant nodded and told Tea after accepting the payment. "Like I said a while ago, you people are my only customers around here. Which means I'll have no problems resupplying myself."

"Will that include the possibility of getting another satellite phone for personal use?"

The Merchant nodded.

"Everyone ready?" Leon asked after he had checked his Silver Ghost and Remington 870, ensuring that it was fully loaded.

"We're all done." Hien told Leon after reloading an empty magazine with 5.56 NATO bullets by hands, which took at least more than 20 minutes to do since he, like Hiryu, Dan and perhaps Yu, a magazine loading device that would allow him to load a 5.56 NATO magazine within only a few minutes. "Just a matter of what to do next."

"There's a cabin I saw up there."

Jean told the teams, pointing to the cabin in the distance.

"Looks like we'll have to get there or get some clues." Kevin summarized his thoughts after Jean pointed out the cabin. "Or we can take a break for a while before we can move on."

"If everyone's done..." Leon said before he slinged his Remington 870 and had his Silver Ghost drawn out instead. "Let's move out of here."

"We'll see you soon." Martin told the Merchant before the teams marched off towards the cabin.

* * *

><p>Near outskirts of cabin, outskirts of El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"Looks pretty fine to me."<p>

Jill commented out to her allies after they were approaching the cabin. Ashley was walking beside her, still a bit tired from all the walking.

"Finally." Ashley whispered. "Some place for me to sit down for a little while."

"Hm?" Eriko had a raised eyebrow. "I'm hearing some chatter in Spanish out in the field."

"Who's talking?" Cammy asked the Japanese detective.

"Over there!" Diana shouted, pointing to what appears to be a crowd of villagers near the left side of the cabin. Everyone saw that the villagers were brandishing lit torches, as well as an assortment of farming tools ranging from pitchforks to sickles and axes with rusted blades.

"There as well!" Hiryu pointed out another mob of villagers walking towards the right side of the cabin.

"Dammit..." Dan muttered before he turned around, seeing a third mob of villagers already walking towards them with a few of them still crossing over the wooden rope bridge.

"Shit! There's no end to this!" Leon muttered to himself, deciding to holster his Silver Ghost and instead, port his Remington 870.

"We need to move to the cabin right now!" Chun-Li shouted to her allies. "We'll be doomed if we stay here otherwise!"

"What are we waiting for? Let's go!" Kevin shouted as he was the first to run towards the cabin. "Come on little lady! Follow us!"

Ashley quickly nodded and ran behind Kevin.

Yu, Jean, Dan and Hien covered for the others, but they did not fire their weapons towards the villagers for the need of preserving ammo. The four quickly retreated back to the cabin after most of their allies got inside safe and sound.

* * *

><p>Inside Cabin ground floor, outskirts of El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Leon, Kevin and company got inside the cabin with the latter pushing a nearby bookcase to seal off the door. They were all greeted by Luis, who was armed with a M1916 Prussian "Red 9"-type Mauser C96 semi-auto pistol.<p>

"Hey, it's you!" Leon shouted, pointing at Luis.

"This is Luis Sera?" Kevin asked Leon after he barricaded the main door.

Luis smirked after hearing Kevin's question. "In the flesh, mind you." He bowed in front of her.

"Reminds me of a typical elitist." Hien shook his head after seeing what Luis was doing.

"And I see that the First Daughter is equipped..." Luis approached Ashley before he began to examine her from top to bottom. "is equipped with ballistics."

The females either glared at Luis hard or wondered why the hell did he say that towards Ashley after all.

"How rude!" Ashley shouted in anger. "That doesn't have any relevance to the current situation..."

"Oh, ho, ho." Luis chuckled while he bowed. "Excuse me, your highness."

Meanwhile, Jean was assisted by Java in pushing the empty bookcases over the windows that were boarded up with wooden planks so that the cabin's lower floor would be protected from any intrusion. Although not for long.

"Time to get ready!" Hiryu said as he prepped his G36C to fire on full automatic mode. "We'll need to hold the line!" Hien did the same, ensuring that the SS1-M5 was still set to full automatic mode.

Yu got his G3A4 ready after checking that the rifle's selector was on full automatic mode. Dan got his SIG Sport 552 ready, the rifle set on semi-automatic mode.

Jill, Eriko and Leon got their sidearms ready.

"Alright. This is how we're going to proceed." Kevin calmly told his allies as he got his SSG P IV at the ready. "Anyone with access to rifles will stay here in the first floor and cover us. The others will need to stay upstairs and cover the rest of us since they'll try and enter this cabin. As for the others..." The DSO agent sighed before he continued. "Just be careful for close quarters combat when the villagers breach this place."

"What about you, Kevin-san?" Fujino asked Kevin.

"I'll stay upstairs and snipe those bastards with this guy."

"Anyone got grenades?" Dan inquired.

"I found some." Sho said before placing a few of them on the table. "I found a fragmentation grenade and two incendiary grenades."

"Perfect." Tea said before she placed down a few more. "I was able to gather up three flashbangs, two fragmentation grenades and an incendiary grenade. Though I strongly advise against the use of frag grenades indoors."

Jill nodded after hearing Tea's suggestion. "I agree with you there."

"All right." Leon nodded. "Just anyone else who's going to rooftops can handle the grenades. Make sure that the safety pins don't go off accidentally."

As the teams began to make preparations before the armed villagers could approach the cabin, Leon began to make contact with Hunnigan at DSO HQ.

* * *

><p>Command Center, DSO Headquarters, somewhere in the United States of America<p>

* * *

><p>Hunnigan gestured to some of her colleagues that Leon has made contact with DSO.<p>

**"Leon, is something the matter back there in Spain?"**

**"Yeah." **

Hunnigan noted that his breathing was a bit different, but was otherwise fine. A few minutes, Adam came to the command center after he was told that Leon made contact with them.

**"What about it? Does this have to do with the First Daughter?"**

**"About that... We're going to be held up a bit longer."  
><strong>

Adam then got a headset near Hunnigan's console and spoke on the microphone. **"Agent Kennedy, this is agent Benford. Are you and Agent Ryman alright back there in Spain?"**

**"Yes, sir."** came the reply from Leon. **"But we're being surrounded by a ton of crazed villagers armed with everything, including dynamite."**

**"Dammit..." **Adam murmured after he heard Leon's answer. **"You think you can hold out?"**

**"I think so. Me and Kevin are getting some help along the way, so it shouldn't be a major problem for us or for the First Daughter."  
><strong>

**"Alright. Do your best to hold out. We're still trying to conduct security checks before we can possibly send out another helicopter to have an extraction done."**

**"Understood, sir. Agent Kennedy out."  
><strong>

Adam removed the headset and said to Hunnigan. "God help those guys."

* * *

><p>Inside Cabin second floor, outskirts of El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"Please come with me at once, Ashley-san."<p>

Fujino brought Ashley upstairs to the cabin's second floor while the majority were making preparations on defending the first floor. Although the group was confident that their superior firepower will drive the villagers back, they don't know how long can they hold their ground until the villagers are able to breach the place. For that, they decided to let Ashley stay hidden somewhere safe upstairs until the coast is clear.

"Will I be safe here?" Ashley asked the Japanese SHADOW agent after she checked a closet when the teenager opened the doors to make sure the coast was clear.

"I am 100% confident of our position, Ashley-san." Fujino told Ashley. "As you are in no position to fight, it is advisable that you remain hidden inside this closet until we can come and get you out of here."

"Alright. I understand." Ashley nodded as she stepped inside the closet.

"Do not worry." Fujino bowed before she started to close the closet doors. "You will be fine inside here." The agent activated her O-Watch's I-Cutter, gripping it by its handle before an energy blade was formed.

* * *

><p>Inside Cabin ground floor, outskirts of El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Martin went for his U-Watch and contacted MOM via the communicator.<p>

**"Agent Mystery." **A holographic image of MOM was seen on the U-Watch, complete with her frowning face. **"I've officially made it clear that unless it's an emergency, I have ordered for communications blackout..."**

**"It is an emergency." **Martin whispered out loud for MOM to hear. **"Di, Java and I are going to be held up for a bit longer with the others. We're being attacked..."**

MOM sighed even harder after hearing Martin's update. **"I see. There is a reason why I've deployed some SHADOW agents to be with you."**

**"I know." **Martin nodded. **"But just in case I don't make it..." **The Canadian teenager swallowed his saliva hard before he addressed MOM once more. **"It's been a real honor working for the Center."**

Nearby, Martin saw that Cammy has been making contact with MI6 headquarters via satellite phone Eriko had provided. Hiryu, Hien and Dan had their assault rifles at the ready, aiming at the barricaded windows.

* * *

><p>MOM's Office, The Center<p>

* * *

><p>"I'll take it that it's official bad news?"<p>

Billy went to MOM's office, about to conduct his duties as MOM's personal assistant.

"It is Billy." MOM sighed before she leaned back on her office chair. "I've gotten word that Martin and the other agents are boxed in by the villagers. We won't have contact with them for a while. And I'm assuming that the same for the other agents deployed into Spain as well, including the American agents from DSO."

"So... what do we do now?" Billy asked his superior, worried for the safety of Martin and the other Center agents.

"What do we do?" MOM repeated the question before she raised an eyebrow. "We... simply do nothing. Except to wait and see if they'll come out of this woodwork alive."

* * *

><p>Unknown Facility<p>

* * *

><p>Krauser was at the observation deck, complete with protective glass, alongside Geki, Octavia, Kei and a few minutes ago Kenny when he made his entrance.<p>

"Never thought that you wouldn't show up." Octavia smirked at Kenny, who responded by rolling his eyes at her.

"So what are we going to look at today?" Kei asked the CIHL head.

"You don't know, Ms. Amami?" Octavia asked the assassin before she decided to reply. "Alright, so I'll assume you don't." The blonde woman cleared her throat before she started to explain. "My latest creation has just been implanted with a parasite granted by Saddler himself after he was very impressed by my creation made from my Spanish base."

"From what I heard," Krauser told Octavia, raising an eyebrow. "you did the very same thing and used it to ransack the Center and tried to kill off your Center colleague once before a couple of Center agents defeated it permanently."

This comment from the ex-commando made Octavia a bit angry.

"It seems you gave Ms. Octavia a bad memory." Kenny told Krauser after seeing Octavia angry.

"Give me a second." Octavia went for her earpiece worn over her right ear. "All right ladies and gentlemen. My new creation is all ready for presentation."

Octavia showed them what appears to be a large room suitable for handling large being like the El Gigante encountered by Leon and his allies near the outskirts of the El Pueblo village. This being, however, looked like it had the head of an Andean Wolf, the body of a Sasquatch (aka Bigfoot), the wings of Owlman and the arms, legs and skin of a Kappa. Octavia had also ensured that characteristics from other creatures are also added to the second meta-creature, but the CIHL leader didn't decide on making them public to her allies.

"That's..." Geki was amazed to see such a creature was created by CIHL. "quite the creature you got ready there, Ms. Paine."

"Oh, I made this creature partially out of lessons I learned from my defeat when I raided the Center all by myself."

"What do you mean?" Krauser raised an eyebrow. "You created a commando team so that you can raid them all over again when the time comes?"

"Of course not." Octavia smirked. "Something that some of you may be a bit familiar with. Just watch and see."

The hybrid creature began to growl out loud, clutching its head while being forced to hunch down over despite being restrained by its arms and legs. Octavia pointed to the creature's shoulders for her allies to focus their attention at. With collective nods, they saw the creature roar out loud again before a parasitic organism, the same type from the El Gigante, began to burst from the shoulder. However unlike its El Gigante, this creature was able to move around and have control of itself.

"So ladies and gentlemen." Octavia explained on the creature. "This new creature has the strength and resilience thanks to the addition of the parasite used by the El Gigante creature made by the cult days ago. Of course, this creature is far more superior since it can still fight while the parasite's own tentacles can serve as a defense mechanism to prevent anyone or anything from attacking it should it be exposed out for a long period of time."

"Quite charming." Kei commented. "As long as this... beast can be controlled, we'll have an edge against those agents alongside those Center and ARCAM brats."

"It is still a shame that we won't have a field tiem for this yet."

Octavia nodded, hearing the ninja's comments. "I did some field tests a while ago and Saddler was kind enough to assist. But you're right, we'll need to bring this creature and test it against the intruders."

"Just how is it going to be controlled?" Kenny raised a question to Octavia.

"It's still linked to Saddler, so this creature will automatically recognize all of us as its allies. Don't worry, it won't try to raise a hand on us."

"Good." Krauser gave a grin. "Because I don't want to waste my energy and time fighting this thing should it turn against us instead of those intruders."

* * *

><p>Inside Cabin ground floor, outskirts of El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Eriko had just ended her conversation from the satellite phone moments after she, Cammy and Chun-Li were able to make contact with a joint team of MI6 and Naicho agents alongside a small team of Interpol officers brought to the headquarters of the Guardia Civil to work with the Servicio de Informacion de la Guardia Civil (Civil Guard Information Service) division moments after the trio did not report back. Like Martin and Leon, they reported that they would have a problem with the incoming band of villagers set to kill them as ordered by their master. For now, they were informed to hold the line as much as they can since they cannot risk blowing the operation and making it public.<p>

Which was fine with them since they had survived a lot starting from El Gigante for starters.

"Ready?" Leon had pumped the Remington 870, loading up a buckshot shell into the shotgun's chambers.

"As soon as they try to breach in." Luis replied, holding his Red 9 pistol at the ready.

Hiryu, Hien, Dan and Yu tried to be calm. They've been in situations where they had to hold the line, but they didn't know if they have enough ammo to hold the line and protect Ashley's life.

"Are we still okay?" Eriko asked after she kept the satellite phone, drawing out her P228 from her shoulder holster.

"Not for long." Jill said, pointing out to the nearest barricaded window where the villagers are hitting it. The bookcase, in turn was tumbling a bit. It would be just a matter of time before the barricaded windows would be destroyed. "Just a matter of time before they breach this place."

More and more pounding was heard by everyone barricaded in the cabin. They were all tense, but nevertheless ready to take down the opposition if need be.

"Come on." Yu whispered. "Just come on." He gripped his G3A4, ready to fire it but so far decided to fire it on impulse.

"The villagers are getting restless." Jean told his allies after coming down from the second floor. "No ladders yet as far as I can see. They're just trying to get inside the barricaded cabin."

"Oh joy..." Hien groaned.

Jean gave a wicked grin. "Oh come now. I thought you'd be like your brother."

"Come on Jean." Hiryu raised an eyebrow towards the French Spriggan operative. "Give it a rest, will ya?"

Jean shrugged and shouldered the SPAS-12, switching its firing rate from pump-action to semi-automatic.

More and more banging on the windows. It seemed the windows and the bookcases used to barricade them are holding up okay. But the fact that they're made up of wood, especially since they're breakable, is not a good sign.

"If only there was a machine gun we can use." Dan groaned.

* * *

><p>Inside Cabin second floor, outskirts of El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Kevin, Chun-Li, Fujino, Tea, Sho, Cammy, Diana and Java kept an eye out on the villagers from the windows on the second floor. Sho and Tea found yellow and red herbs nearby, creating an herb mixture alongside an unused green herb Kevin had carried for himself, creating a GreenRed/Yellow herb mixture for the former to use later on. Tea didn't have any objections to the ninja's decision.

"Looks like they didn't decide on breaching the second floor." Chun-Li gazed at the villagers surrounding the cabin from one of the windows on the floor.

"That's good." Kevin said after doing checks on the SSG P IV and on the Glock 21 Mariner. "Because I don't think we've got enough ammo to survive."

"Diana going to be alright?" Java asked, ready to use his caveman fists.

"Don't worry." Diana reassured the caveman. "I'll be alright. After all, we're working alongside some of the best agents out in the field."

"Oh shit..." Kevin groaned after taking a peek through the windows. "Looks like they're getting ready for the cavalry."

"What kind?" Fujino asked the DSO agent.

"The kind where ladders are going to be used."

* * *

><p>Inside Cabin ground floor, outskirts of El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"Looks like the time has come."<p>

Leon murmured, shouldering and aiming the Remington 870 as he used the iron sights to eye out the nearest bookcase used to barricade a ground floor window.

"Get ready." Jean whispered, hearing the sounds of wood splinters being broken due to repeated hits on the wooden planks. After a few more hits, the group heard the wooden plans being completely broken before the nearest bookcase was shoved to the ground.

"Here they come!"

Dan shouted as the villagers were able to destroy the wooden planks covering the window near the main door with the bookcase completely shoved to the ground.

"Fire!" Hien shouted after he shouldered the SS1-M5 at the villager standing near the window, who was brandishing a torch.

"Haaaaaaahhhhhhh!" His masked brother, Hiryu, joined in to assist and fired his G36C after acquiring a target via the 3x magnified telescopic sight.

"Crap!" Leon shouted, about to help the masked teenagers when he heard another barricaded window break down with another bookcase toppled. He then turned the shotgun to the busted window, moving in and firing his weapon at the villagers trying to get inside.

"Merde!" Jean yelled out in anger, firing the SPAS-12 to help Leon with his right hand.

Chapter 8 END

* * *

><p>PS - I'll still stick this in for reference use. That is until I make big changes.<p>

Team 1 - Hien, Leon, Diana, Java, Jean, Cammy, Jill, Eriko, Dan

Team 2 - Hiryu, Sho, Fujino, Martin, Kevin, Yu, Tea, Chun-Li

I need to ask someone who's really, really familiar with the Nasuverse. Although I've seen the major works taking place in the Nasuverse, I need to confirm if the Burial Agency is in the KnK world in some form, one way or another. Thanks.

Also I don't think I showed how Jill looked like in the RE4 AU fic of mine. Just think of her wearing her outfit in the pre-RE5 game when she was with Chris investigating the Spencer Estate before she tackles Wesker. My apologies for overlooking it.

Making DSO as the permanent change instead of STRATCOM. Recent material released for RE6 is making that as Leon's official employer after the Raccoon City crisis alongside Kevin for this fic.

In the meantime, enjoy the new chapter and I look forward to your reviews. In the meantime, feel free to read and review Peacekeepers as well, which is my latest fic as of this upload. Have a good day/night reading it from wherever you are.

If in the future or what that any of my fics make it to TV Tropes by a Fanfic Recommendation or something, please let me know so that I can have a look at it. After all, I do have an account with them.


	9. The Siege

Resident Evil/Biohazard: Hostage Rescue

Rating: T

NOTE:

All characters of Resident Evil/Captain Commando/Street Fighter are under the copyright of Capcom. All characters of Martin Mystery are under the copyright of Marathon. All characters of Kara no Kyokai are under the copyright of TYPE-MOON. All characters of Spriggan are under the copyright of Hiroshi Takashige and Ryoji Minagawa. All characters of Jiraishin are under the copyright of Tsutomu Takahashi. The appearance of Kenneth "Kenny" Feng is under noctorro's jurisdiction. All others are under my jurisdiction.

Summary:

The teams are now trapped in a small cabin as the infected villagers have them trapped from all sides with no other place to go. Will they be able to hold up and survive? Stay tune to this chapter to find out.

Chapter 9: The Siege

* * *

><p>Inside Cabin ground floor, outskirts of El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>The gun wielders from the two teams had already opened fire at all of the infected villagers after the first two bookcase barricades, which consisted of the front window and door, were breached. The door had been violently been breached after the villagers began to enter the cabin one by one. It seemed that the door would be of little use now since it was nearly broken into two.<p>

"Dammit!" Hiryu shouted while he fired his HK G36C. "Every time we shoot one down, two more come to take their place!"

"Too bad bro!" Hien groaned while he stopped to clear a jam from his SS1-M5 Commando for a few seconds. "This'll be the last time we see each other then!"

"Both of you, shut your yapping!" Jean shouted at the masked teens when the French Spriggan emptied his Franchi SPAS-12's magazine against any villager trying to breach through the window.

"I don't think we'll last this long!" Leon had just fired his last 12 gauge shell at a villager trying to get in the cabin before he stopped to crouch and reload his Remington 870.

"Covering!" Yu shouted as he unloaded 7.62 NATO bullets from his HK G3A4 unto hordes of villagers that were trying to get inside the cabin one by one.

Jill kept her fire with the Beretta Px4 Storm Type F, stopping only to reload her sidearm.

"Why you..." Dan snarled before he was willing to pull a frag grenade he had saved before deciding to keep up the fire with his SIG Sport 552.

Eriko was able to hold herself in the battle, emptying much of her Sig Sauer P228 against the invading villagers. She stepped a bit back near Leon in order to cover him while he was still reloading his shotgun.

"Hey Leon! How are things there!"

* * *

><p>Inside Cabin second floor, outskirts of El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Kevin gave the shout to his DSO partner while he readied his Steyr SSG P IV. The others on the second floor were nervous that the villagers had managed to breach the barricades at the ground floor, but they were nevertheless ready to act should the villagers try to invade the second floor.<p>

"We're holding up!" Leon shouted back to Kevin. "Cover our backs!"

"How are they, Kevin-san?" Fujino asked Kevin after she got her I-Cutter ready for combat.

"Looks good so far. But I'm not sure for how long they can hold their ground before the villagers would try and invade this floor."

"I don't think that's going to hold for long." Cammy told Kevin as she took a peek outside after she pressed her back against the wall to make herself visible to the villagers.

"What do you mean?" Kevin asked the Delta Red operative, checking the SSG P IV.

"They're bringing up ladders and they're going to use them to raid this floor."

"Dammit..." Chun-Li muttered after hearing what Cammy.

"I may slow them down." Fujino told everyone on the second floor. She had a few seconds to stay silent before she whispered one word.

"Bend."

* * *

><p>Hallway, DSO Headquarters, somewhere in the United States of America<p>

* * *

><p>Hunnigan had just made her trip to the nearest toilet to relieve herself before grabbing a cup of hot coffee. She knew that things are going to be a bit long in DSO headquarters, considering the mission placed on them by President Graham.<p>

"I just hope those two are alright." Hunnigan muttered as she made her way towards the command center. "Just with their current situation right about now."

* * *

><p>President's Office, West Wing, White House, Washington D.C., United States of America<p>

* * *

><p>President Graham waited at his seat as he was told by a DSO representative that Leon and Kevin have Ashley in their custody. Except that Los Illuminados may have infected them with a parasite that they deemed so dangerous that they are not willing to be extracted, in addition to the security checks DSO is doing to weed out double agents in the Secret Service and possibly in the FBI.<p>

"Any word yet from the DSO?" The president asked his aide, who was an East Asian man in his late 30s wearing a white dress shirt and red necktie with a black suit. The man wore Oxford shoes for his footwear.

"None as of now, Mr. President." The aide replied to President Graham. "DSO has only said that they're conducting more security checks to ensure no one in the Secret Service is working for the kidnappers who took your daughter."

"Damn those bastards." President Graham muttered while he gritted his teeth. "What is it that they want with me?"

* * *

><p>Inside Cabin second floor, outskirts of El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"Whoa..." Kevin whistled, seeing the ladders carried by the villagers broken andor torn into pieces.

"As long as they do not breach this place." Sho told everyone on the second floor. "We could hold this floor until the siege stops."

"On second thought..." Diana murmured after hearing gunshots once more downstairs.

* * *

><p>Inside Cabin ground floor, outskirts of El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Luis fired his Red 9 at a villager who had just barged into the cabin, armed with a lit torch. He first fired a few rounds at the torch to render it useless before he fired a few more at the villager's head.<p>

"Oh dear..." Luis muttered when he saw the parasite emerge from what was suppose to be the head of the former headless villager. The parasite-controlled villager approached Luis, swinging its organic blades at him.

"Look out!" Leon shouted as he fired his Remington 870 at the parasite, nearly emptying his magazine before the parasite blew up.

"There's no end to these bastards!" Hien yelled before he stepped back to reload his SS1-M5 Commando.

"Le'ts move upstairs!" Yu suggested to his allies after he had reloaded his G3A4. "It won't be long before we're the ones who are going to be at a disadvantage here!"

_Dammit! He's right._

Leon couldn't agree more with Yu. He had fired a lot of shotgun shells at the incoming villagers and while he had mysteriously been able to pick up a few shotgun shell boxes, the DSO agent knew that they were not enough for him and the others to survive the siege._  
><em>

"Let's go! Let's go!" Leon shouted before he fired another 12 gauge buckshot at a villager who entered the cabin with a sickle. Seeing the villager fall back outside, he gestured to the others to get upstairs at once.

Jill was the last person to get up the staircase, firing the Px4 Storm at the legs of the villagers to slow them down for a few seconds to give her allies some temporary breathing room.

* * *

><p>Inside Cabin second floor, outskirts of El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"What happen?"<p>

Java asked Leon and the other gun wielders after they saw them running upstairs.

"The first floor's being breached!" Dan shouted. "The villagers are coming upstairs!"

"And here comes the welcoming committee!" Kevin shouted when he saw the villagers preparing ladders once again. He went to open the window in front and leaned near it before the DSO agent shouldered the SSG P IV.

Hien rushed to another window, taking a few frag and incendiary grenades. The masked Spriggan hurled them towards the crowd after immediately taking off the safety pins, intending to cause massive casualties.

"Whoa..." Jean whistled before he changed the SPAS-12's firing mode from pump mode to semi-auto mode. The ponytailed man fired a couple of shots at the villagers in semi-auto to slow them down, who was located from the staircase, as most of of the others began their trek upstairs to the second floor.

* * *

><p>Command Center, DSO Headquarters, somewhere in the United States of America<p>

* * *

><p>"Anything?" Hunnigan asked a DSO operator after she got back into the DSO command center.<p>

"Nothing." The operator replied, who was an African American in his 20s. He had a white dress shirt and a blue necktie with brown pants and Oxford shoes.

"Nothing?"

"Still quiet on the Spanish frontline."

"Hmm..." Hunnigan noted the reply as she went to take her seat. Putting her coffee cup down near the console, Hunnigan grabbed her headset and placed it over her head.

"Agent Benford wants to let you know that he needs to talk to you as soon as possible." The operator told Hunnigan before he wrote some notes on a notepad.

"Understood." Hunnigan replied.

* * *

><p>Inside Cabin second floor, outskirts of El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Hien had just chucked the primed incendiary grenade before he just threw his first frag grenade after taking off the safety pin.<p>

"Looks like a massive number." murmured Hien after seeing a huge number of villagers either taken out by shrapnel or by being burned to death. "A whole lot of them, if I may have to say."

"Hold them off!" Jean shouted when he fired his SPAS-12 at the villagers trying to get to the second stairs.

"Don't these guys have a coffee break or something?" Kevin yelled his thoughts out loud, focusing on the SSG P IV's mounted riflescope while he aimed the silenced sniper rifle at the heads of the villagers.

"We all wish!" Hiryu fired his G36C before one of the villagers hurled his hatchet. The masked SHADOW agent got hit in the left hand, which was covered by the glove portion of his Trident-made Armored Machine Suit.

_Ah shit! _Hiryu noted that the hatchet didn't hurt him since the orihalcon material used to construct the Armored Machine Suit didn't hurt him at all. But since the effects of the attack dissipated like kevlar by cushioning the blade's kinetic force to prevent it from cutting his hand up, the masked agent would just feel some pain on his left hand.

"You all right?" Yu went to see Hiryu, who had dropped his G36C. The Japanese Spriggan fired his G3A4 to keep the armed villagers at bay.

"I'm alright!" Hiryu replied. "Orihalcon stopped it!"

Dan and Jean continued the pace, firing their weapons to gun down the villagers trying to walk slowly on the staircase.

"Looks like we can keep them at bay." Leon murmured, seeing Hien fire his SS1-M5 Commando to keep the villagers at bay while Kevin used his SSG P IV to snipe some of the villagers trying to get ready for a ladder breach.

However, more and more villagers were crowding the staircase. In fact, more of them were coming up the stairs. One villager may be gunned down, but more came to take their place.

* * *

><p>Unknown Facility<p>

* * *

><p>"We got word of the heroes being held up."<p>

Krauser told the other villains after being called out of the observation deck.

"Held up?" Kenny questioned Krauser. "What do you mean by that?"'

"I've been informed that the villagers are holing up the First Daughter's rescuers in some cabin in a siege."

"A siege huh?" Octavia said before she went to her thoughts. "I wonder if I can get my prototype creature out for combat..."

"How long has this been going on?" Geki asked the ex-special forces commando.

"I guess for an hour now." Krauser told the ninja, shrugging his shoulders.

"I'm sure they won't last for long." Kei told Krauser. "Given that Saddler can field a lot of villagers to finish them off since they don't have infinite ammo."

"Of course they won't." Octavia grinned. "This isn't a video game after all."

* * *

><p>Inside Cabin second floor, outskirts of El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Some of the villagers have been able to get to the second floor, forcing a few of the good guys to change their tactics from firearms to CQC.<p>

"Just keep up the fire!" Sho told Hien and Kevin before he drew out Lightning Light from its saya and charged at the nearest villager. He decapitated a sickle-armed villager, taking off its head.

Fujino joined in the fight as well alongside Sho, using the I-Cutter's energy blade to decapitate another villager, who was armed with a hatchet.

Cammy attempted to fight as well, but she was nearly knocked down at her feet when a villager used the bottom of her sickle to disorient her. Luckily, Chun-Li intervened by executing a roundhouse kick.

"Damn! They're on the second floor now!" Luis stepped back from the staircase, his back near the closet Ashley used to stay hidden, before he raised his Red 9 gripped on his right hand. The Spaniard aimed the Red 9 a the villagers still on the staircase via iron sights and fired 9mm bullets at them.

Jean fired the SPAS-12 at the villagers, hitting them at their heads. Leon assisted and fired at their heads. Some of them exploded, but not all of the headless villagers died since parasites emerged from the necks of the headless villagers.

"I need a flashbang!" Yu shouted as he continued to fire his G3A4 to distract any villagers who were still at the bottom of the staircase. Eriko helped the young Spriggan when she fired her sidearm at the villagers near the staircase.

"Here goes!" Jill caught a flashbang hurled towards her by Kevin before he reloaded his SSG P IV. Removing the safety pin, the BSAA operative threw the primed flashbang down the staircase.

"Cover your eyes everyone!" Leon shouted, using his left arm to cover his eyes.

Everyone else covered their eyes as well just before the flashbang detonated, taking out any parasites on the headless villagers.

* * *

><p>Hallway, somewhere in the Center<p>

* * *

><p>Billy roamed in the hallway in his hoverchair after he came from the SID office to get an update on whether the mole had made serious movements after being placed under their surveillance network.<p>

_So far nothing. _Billy went over the data provided by SID agents. _Aside from conducting his duties with the Spanish base and maintaining security of its teleportation equipment.  
><em>

The alien sighed in frustration as nothing was significant. Well at least Sawamura was doing his job, but MOM wanted to take advantage of the mole's status as a double agent to further lure out the man who was responsible for hiring him and sabotaging the Center's teleporatation equipment that MOM was forced to deploy the SHADOWs (except for Fujino) by air.

"We just can't seem to figure out why this man wants by interfering with us." Billy murmured after she was informed by MOM that Wesker was the man responsible for turning Sawamura.

Except the entire world knows that he's dead.

But the thing is that he's alive.

And now SID is scrambling through confiscated Umbrella files to find out if they can get an answer for Wesker and why he's still breathing and kicking.

* * *

><p>Inside Cabin second floor, outskirts of El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"Leon! Over here!"<p>

Kevin called for Leon, eying the villagers outside the cabin from the riflescope of his SSG P IV. Leon ran up behind Kevin, taking out his binoculars.

"All clear!" Jill and Yu inspected the ground floor of the cabin and noted that it was clear of any invading villagers.

Leon used the binoculars to inspect the crowd, seeing that one of them was talking to his fellow villagers. A few seconds later, the DSO agent saw the crowd disperse as if they were no longer of importance.

"They're all leaving." Leon faced his allies. Martin and Diana went to inspect the closet and saw that it was not damaged. The former opened it after the latter told Ashley that the villagers went away and everyone was still alive.

"Now what?" Yu muttered after he reloaded his third magazine onto his G3A4.

"What do we do now?" Luis sighed after he reloaded his Red 9 once again.

"We'll need to move on." Eriko informed Luis after she holstered her P228. "I doubt that the retreating villagers allowed the wooden bridge we used to get here to be standing at all."

"By the way you guys..." Luis told the teams after he holstered his Red 9. "I think I forgot something. So you all go ahead without me."

"Where the heck is he going?" Jill asked the others as Luis completely walked out of the cabin.

"Beats me." Yu shrugged, putting the G3A4 on his left shoulder while holding the assault rifle by its buttstock.

Hiryu made a dash to the nearest window and leaped out.

"I'll go check!"

* * *

><p>Outside Cabin, outskirts of El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Hiryu landed on his feet safe and sound. Due to the Armored Machine Suit, it was able to partially prevent him from breaking any bones in his body.<p>

"Dammit... Still raining." muttered the ex-Spriggan operative. "My beret's getting wet by the minute again."

He was a bit alarmed when he saw Luis in the rain speaking with an Asian woman in a red dress.

"A woman in a red dress?" Hiryu whispered as he decided to spy on them and see what was going on.

After all, he was given secret orders to have Luis assassinated due to his ties with the cult alongside Dan and Fujino.

"What the hell is going on there?"

Hiryu decided to take a gander and listen, using the bushes nearby to conceal his presence. He also tried to walk a bit slow while crouching since the muddy ground was more than enough to let everyone know that he's around.

* * *

><p>"Hey, Señorita."<p>

Luis sounded pleasant when he greeted Ada, grinning at her.

"Got a light and some smokes to go with it to make my day?"

Ada glared at her. "Where is the sample?"

Luis sighed, defeated. "Okay. We skip the foreplay." He raised his arms in emphasis. "As a matter of fact, I was just going to get it. Where's the love, baby?"

"Sounds like fun to me." Ada continued to glare at Luis before she crossed her arms. "Just hurry up."

"Okay lady." Luis had just walked pass by Ada before he stopped at his tracks. "Where do you stand in all of this?" The Spanish man stared at Ada's back. "Exactly what kind of group do you work for?"

Ada replied sharply. "There are some things in the world better off not knowing. This is one of them."

"Fine." Luis shrugged. "I can take a hint." He began walking away from her. "I don't care who you are. As long as you get rid of that old man and his religious friends."

* * *

><p>"Hmm... This is quite interesting."<p>

Hiryu nodded as he had listened on the entire conversation via directional microphone, which he had called from his O-Watch prior to eavesdropping on Ada and Luis. Listening in via headphones, the SHADOW agent felt certain that Luis needed to be taken out.

_So it looks like_ _that woman could be in league with Luis, which gives me more reason that the guy should be taken out. But I can't seem to remember where I last saw that woman. Her voice is pretty familiar. And she went off! Wonder where that lady disappeared off to  
><em>

The masked agent decided not to ponder any further before he drew out a Sig Sauer SIG Pro SP 2022 from his right leg holster, knowing that he doesn't have enough ammo for his G36C, before he approached where the bridge was suppose to be.

"It's out." Hiryu sighed before he holstered his SP 2022 and ran back towards the cabin. "Need to tell the others."

* * *

><p>Unknown to Hiryu, Ada had quickly positioned herself on top of a nearby tree branch, suspecting that someone was trying to eavesdrop on her conversation with Luis.<p>

"And so the little boy has grown up now." The Chinese-American spy murmured to herself as she watched the SHADOW agent make a run back towards the cabin.

"I hope you don't die, cutie..." Ada smirked before she drew out her grappling gun and aimed it towards another tree nearby.

* * *

><p>Inside Cabin ground floor, outskirts of El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Leon, Kevin and everyone else went downstairs from the second stairs to the ground floor in order to catch a breath. Ashley also went down with them, assisted by Diana as she was never placed in a cramped place. Since a few of them had some cuts or bruises from the siege, they decided to ingest all of the herb mixtures they can use.<p>

"You alright?" Tea noticed a small cut on her left arm.

"Hm?" Ashley noted the cut Tea showed her. "I didn't seem to notice it."

"Here you are." Leon handed Ashley a Green-Red herb mixture wrapped up in a piece of cloth. "Just ingest this herb mixture. It should take care of your wounds."

"Thanks a lot, Leon." Ashley thanked the blonde agent. She unfolded the cloth carefully before the First Daughter ingested the crushed herbs.

"So what now?" Chun-Li asked the Center agents after Hiryu had left the cabin to supposedly see if he can catch up with Luis.

"Don't worry about Hiryu-san." Fujino reassured the INTERPOL agent. "He's on the SHADOW's best agents in the field."

* * *

><p>Outside Cabin, outskirts of El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"Better head back for now."<p>

Hiryu began to make a run towards the cabin, deciding to make a stop towards the familiar blue light at the rear of the structure.

"Well, that seems familiar."

The masked agent managed to pick up a box of 9mm bullets before he saw the hooded Merchant again.

"You." Hiryu murmured. "I saw you back down there..."

"Trade secret, strangah." The Merchant replied before he chuckled at Hiryu's confused look.

"Er, right." Hiryu made a dash for the small shed near the standing Merchant, grabbing a box of 5.56 NATO bullets and what appears to be a map of another area with photos of El Gigante.

"Nice intel stuff." Hiryu stuffed the map and photo back in his tac vest before he went to see the Merchant, who was standing all alone in the cold, damp rain.

"Anything that I can do help strangah?" The Merchant asked.

Hiryu replied, nodding a bit. "Yeah. I could ask you a favor or something..."

"A favor?" The hooded man laughed before he said. "It has been a while since someone asked me of a favor."

"So are you going to do it?"

"Of course I am. You people are my customers after all..."

* * *

><p>Inside Cabin ground floor, outskirts of El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"Yo." Hiryu greeted everyone back in the cabin. "And I brought a guest along willing to rearm us."<p>

"Hello, strangahs..." The Merchant greeted everyone inside.

"You think by now that he'd try to figure out our names." Dan groaned.

"Unless you remember that we didn't bother to." Diana countered the Malaysian SHADOW agent's argument.

Hiryu tossed Hien the box of 5.56 NATO bullets, the latter accepting it as he began to reload his empty magazines. The former tossed to Eriko a box of 9mm bullets, who thanked him as well.

"You guys." Hiryu directed his gaze at Dan and to Fujino. "A word outside."

The two SHADOW agents followed Hiryu outside while the Merchant began to assist the others in having their magazines reloaded ASAP.

* * *

><p>Outside Cabin, outskirts of El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Once the three SHADOW agents, Hiryu spoke up to Dan and Fujino.<p>

"I'm going to be quick and brief on this one guys." He sighed and told his comrades in a low voice to make sure no one in the cabin was trying to eavesdrop. "I was able to tail Luis for a while before I lost him, but it seems that there's a certain female spy that I tangled up back in Japan."

"You mean..." Dan whispered in surprise. When he saw Hiryu nod, he muttered "Taik".

"Will this be a problem later on with our assignment?" Fujino asked Hiryu after she heard him out while flexing her legs. _It is a good_ _thing I had the precaution of changing my pants and shoes at least. I don't know about jeans though, but combat boots were at least a good idea since we'll be for a while._

"I don't think so." Hiryu replied. "As long as we keep them in the dark at least. MOM's orders."

"I understand."

"I think we should get the SID to double check on this woman." Dan told Hiryu. "I can't seem to shake the feeling that she may be the same woman you and I encountered in Tokyo last year or so."

"Woman?" Fujino asked, raising an eyebrow on her fellow, although older, SHADOW colleagues.

"Just someone we encountered before you were recruited by MOM, Fujino."

"I see."

Hiryu used the O-Watch's Messenger to send out an encrypted transmission to Center with an urgent message for MOM to read.

"Done?" Dan asked, in which he got a response with Hiryu nodding.

"So how shall we proceed?" Fujino asked her seniors.

"We proceed with the same thing as usual, Fujino." Hiryu replied after he deactivated the Messenger. "We find a way to take down Luis and Octavia Paine."

* * *

><p>Inside Cabin ground floor, outskirts of El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"Guess we should thank you for helping us with this."<p>

Leon thanked the Merchant for helping him and the others who use firearms as their weapons by assisting them with bullets. Which was on the house, he says, since he made a bad business decision a few years ago.

"Not at all strangah." The Merchant replied as Leon loaded the last empty magazine for his Silver Ghost with 9mm bullets. "I'm just glad to help you and your friends."

"Our apologies for being outside." Fujino told everyone in the cabin before she bowed. Hiryu and Dan approached the Merchant and asked him if he could help them reload some of their empty magazines.

"Did something happen?" Ashley asked the Japanese SHADOW agent.

"Nothing very serious, Ms. Graham." Fujino replied graciously. "But my comrades have found valuable intel that we should look at."

For that part, the purple-haired girl presented a map of the next area or so with a photo of El Gigante.

"Eriko-san." Fujino showed the Japanese homicide detective a message that was written in Spanish.

"Arigato, Eriko-san." Eriko thanked Fujino after she got the message. The Japanese woman began to read over the message carefully. It was a good thing that the Spanish was pretty legible for her to understand.

**Just a while ago, I was informed by Lord Saddler ****that our men had shot down a United States ****military helicopter.****There shouldn't be any more outside interference ****for a while now. ****Unless the United States government determines ****who the traitor is, they can only initiate very ****small covert operations. ****We must use this time to our advantage and ****recapture the girl. ****The intruder can only get out of our ****territory by using one of two routes.****This is where we'll stop them.****We shall make use of our forces to the greatest ****degree. ****We will deploy a large number of Ganados in one ****of the routes to ensure that they do not slip by ****us. For the other route we shall leave the task ****to El Gigante. Which ever route they take, the ****agent will never leave here alive. Not with the ****girl at least.**

"It seems the American's fear of a mole is true after all." Eriko told everyone in the cabin after reading through the message a few times to make sure she's didn't misread it.

"What do you mean?" Cammy asked the detective. "Was there something in the message that's important?"

Eriko nodded. "The cult was able to shoot down an extraction chopper meant for Leon-san and Kevin-san. So the only way they would know is by a double agent."

"Does it mention anything about the mole?" Leon asked Eriko, who had just reloaded a fresh magazine onto his Silver Ghost before he pulled the slide to load a bullet in the chamber.

Eriko shook her head in response.

"I guess Agent Benford did the right way in conducting security checks back home." Kevin gave Leon his thoughts after he reloaded his Glock 21 Mariner. "Thing is we don't have squat of a clue who the mole is."

"We need to move as soon as we can." Tea gave her advise while going over the map provided by Fujino. "From what I can see, there are two routes that we can use in order to get to the next area and away from the village area."

"Two routes?" Martin asked after hearing what Tea said.

"How are we going to choose which route is right for us to use?" Ashley asked Tea. "I'm sure that we won't have to decide on the spot which path to use."

"That is a good question, young lady." Sho told the First Daughter.

* * *

><p>MOM's Office, The Center<p>

* * *

><p>MOM was doing her officework as usual when she received an encrypted message. She stopped whatever she was doing and got decryption software working while she called for Billy into her office.<p>

"Got here as fast as I could!" Billy shouted before the last of the decryption software had done its work when MOM greeted Billy.

"I need to get SID to do something for me." MOM told Billy while reading the message from Hiryu.

"What about it?"

"Mark needs a background check going regarding an Asian woman he saw a while in the rural parts of Spain."

"Anything I can use for SID to check with?"

MOM frowned after reading the message. She then told Billy. "A woman around her 30s. Asian. And wears a red dress."

"A red dress in the Spanish countryside?" Billy was confused by the description. "That seems... inappropriate for an operation Mark and the guys are in."

"Who knows how this woman operates?" MOM shrugged her shoulders before she eyed Billy. "Just ask SID to run the description and see if they can get anything."

"R-Right!" Billy zoomed off, leaving MOM to her thoughts in her office.

* * *

><p>Inside Cabin ground floor, outskirts of El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Leon and Kevin were now facing a serious dilemma after going over the map they got from Eriko, courtesy of Fujino.<p>

First was the pathways left to them by the cult. It seemed easy. All they need to go was go use the paths mentioned by the note read by Eriko and they'll be out of the area.

The second part wasn't the easy part. Los Illuminados has left them "parting gifts" in the form of enemies. In the left side of the path, the only problem the teams would face consist of just ordinary villagers. If this path was used, it would simply be a cakewalk.

The right path, on the other hand, would be a major headache. An El Gigante is the only obstacle blocking their way to further progress. Considering that they're bringing Ashley along until they can extract her out of Spanish soil without the parasite in their bodies...

"Dammit..." Leon sighed, scratching his head when he looked at the map with Kevin. "Which one?"

"What?" Kevin chuckled, trying to cheer his DSO colleague up. "You want to flip a coin to decide on the path to use, Leon?"

"Wha..." Leon was startled by Kevin's question. "Of course not!"

"I'm just kidding, Leon."

"As usual," Diana gave her own comment after having a look at the map for herself. "we would have to split up again in order to do this."

"Wouldn't it be easier to just, you know, get together and storm one of the paths ourselves?" Martin asked his stepsister.

"I'll disagree." Yu told Martin. "We could be assaulted on the front and the back. Not feasible. Especially since we'll be close together that it'll even make CQC a joke."

"So team division like the last time?" Jill asked once more. "I think this is the only way we can advance significantly. If in case one of us is able to make it out of those paths ahead of the other, either one of the teams can assist the other one in getting out alive."

* * *

><p>MOM's Office, The Center<p>

* * *

><p>"MOM! MOM! MOM!"<p>

MOM was roused from her officework once more when she heard the shouts of her assistant Billy, who had arrived in her office a lot faster than usual. Given that he hangs around with Martin, she wondered if it's a good idea to give the green alien more tasks like this later on.

"Anything that SID was able to find out?"

"Here!" Billy handed MOM an electronic tablet that showed a file that had been already opened, showing the personal data and bio of the "woman" Hiryu encountered back in Spain.

"It's Ada Wong, MOM." Billy said, a bit nervous since he had time to read the file after SID told him who the "woman" was.

"Ada Wong?" MOM raised an eyebrow while reading the tablet. "If I understood this right, she was suppose to be dead during the Raccoon City crisis in the late 1990s."

"That is the thing." Billy replied to MOM's concerns. "The only way to explain everything is that she faked his death and went to work for whoever is meeting with Luis Sera."

"Hmmm..." MOM nodded. "It's most likely that she's working with Wesker, given that he went underground after he had supposedly been killed in the Arklay Mountains."

"Do we tell Mark, Dan and Fujino about this?" Billy asked his superior.

MOM nodded at Billy's question. "I want you to send out an encrypted message to the three about who the woman in the red dress is. But tell them that they are under orders not to divulge what SID has found to anyone else, especially to those DSO agents? Have I made myself clear?"

"Understood, MOM."

* * *

><p>Inside Cabin ground floor, outskirts of El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"Thanks a lot for helping out."<p>

Hiryu told the Merchant before he shook hands with him.

"Not at all strangah." The Merchant replied, shaking hands with the masked SHADOW agent.

_For a merchant, this guy's grip is very tight. Good thing the orihalcon would ensure that my hand doesn't become very painful._

"While I would agree that splitting us up would save some time," Jean went to put in a question. "my biggest concern right now is what happens to the First Daughter?"

"That's a..." Kevin sighed. "pretty good question that we'll need to think about right now. Given that she's a major target for the cult alongside everyone else in this room."

The Merchant then excused himself, saying that he needed to get back "to work" as soon as he could.

"How about leaving one of us here while the others go in and clear the paths ahead?"

Everyone focused their attention, Ashley included, towards Chun-Li. The INTERPOL agent was in a wooden chair next to Jill and Eriko.

"So who's going to volunteer?" Cammy asked, throwing the question for her allies to consider.

"Dan, what about you?" Martin asked the Malaysian if he would consider volunteering.

"Me?" Dan pointed to himself.

"It's going to be an easy job." Hiryu reassured his partner. "All you gotta do is watch over Ashley until one of the teams can contact you." He sighed. "I guess somehow when we're able to clear either the left or the right path. How does that sound, mate?"

"Uh..." Dan wasn't sure if he should take the job in protecting Ashley all by himself.

"Come on, man." Martin pleaded with Dan, almost wanting to get on his knees and beg his Center colleague.

The Malaysian SHADOW agent sighed. "Kenapa saya?"

"Guess that means you're in?" Hiryu asked before he did a brass check on his SIG Pro SP 2022.

Dan simply nodded.

* * *

><p>Guardhouse, near Cabin, outskirts of El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"It looks like the switch is here."<p>

Leon inspected the guardhouse, aiming the Silver Ghost inside to make sure no villager was inside. The blonde DSO agent was holding the pistol in a Weaver stance.

_Nothing but cogs and machinery. And there's a lever switch inside._

"Something inside?" Kevin asked Leon when he got inside the guardhouse. He was standing outside alongside the others.

"Yeah." Leon replied. "Just a lever with some machinery."

"I guess this is where fate decides our next step or so." Kevin got out a 25 cent coin from a pocket in his pants. "Hm. Canadian. This'll do, but I don't know how I got inside with my other coins."

Leon got out of the guardhouse and heard Kevin's comments, which resulted in a glare. "You forgot to have that changed, didn't you?"

"Oh, never mind." Kevin tried to play down his situation. "Heads, we take the left. Tails, we do the right."

Placing the Canadian quarter on his right thumb, which was in his clenched fist, the brown-haired DSO agent flicked the coin up to the air. Kevin had his right hand open up, allowing him to catch the coin.

"And I've got the score!" Kevin shouted, grinning as he opened his clenched fist to check if the Canadian quarter showed the heads (which is the head of Queen Elizabeth II) or tails (which is the caribou).

"It seems they won the bet." Jill saw the "head" in the Canadian quarter that landed in Kevin's right hand.

"Dammit..." Kevin murmured. "Oh well. I need to fail once in a while. Except for being in a major assignment like this."

"Time to get the show on the road then." Hiryu said, checking the grenade Dan gave him a while ago to see if it was still there.

"I'll activate the lever for the left gate then." Leon told Kevin as he gripped the lever, turning it to the left. A few minutes later, the machinery in front of him began to function as they were turning up, down, left and right.

"It's open." The wooden gate was then opened, moving upward. A path was seen up ahead, although they don't know what lies ahead.

"We should split up from here then." Kevin told Leon as he pocketed his quarters.

"Yeah. I know." Leon replied, nodding his head.

* * *

><p>Inside Cabin ground floor, outskirts of El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"Do you think they'll be alright out there?"<p>

Ashley asked Dan, who was relegated to temporary guard duty inside the abandoned cabin. He had his Sport 552 carbine at the ready. Ashley had decided to sit down, feeling tired from the journey she had all the way to being temporarily placed inside a cabinet to hide from the rampaging villagers.

"Don't worry those guys." Dan tried to assure Ashley her concerns. "I'm sure that they'll be fine. I'm confident that they'll be able to clear the paths up ahead so that you won't be harmed."

* * *

><p>Outside Guardhouse, near Cabin, outskirts of El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>After the left wooden gate opened up, Leon and Kevin had officially decided to part ways. At least so that they can clear the paths up ahead. And at the same time, make sure that the coast is clear for their allies to be safe before they can get Ashley out of the area since it's possible for the villagers to come back and to try and attack them on the orders of Saddler.<p>

"I'll see you later then." Diana exchanged goodbyes with Fujino since the Canadian teenager needed to go with Leon's team and clear the left path of all enemies.

"Be careful, Diana-san." Fujino bowed graciously towards her senior.

"You be careful of yourself, Ominae." Jean told Yu, glaring a bit at the Japanese Spriggan operative.

Yu glared back at Jean before he rolled his eyes. "Same to you. We can't afford having you turning into a werewolf man and kill everyone, including me."

A few eyes were staring at Yu and Jean.

"Can you two please be civil for once in your lives?" Tea scolded her Spriggan comrades.

"Come on, Jean. Aren't you suppose to be leaving now?" Hiryu told Jean, reminding him of the current mission.

"Oh right, right." Jean sighed, putting the barrel of the SPAS-12 on his right shoulder before he joined up with Leon's team.

"I am glad that we were able to avoid a confrontation like that." Sho sighed, wondering if there had been some trouble between Yu and Jean during their time with ARCAM.

"Ah, Tea and I were used to it." Hiryu told the Ninja commando before everyone in Leon's team departed to secure the left path.

"Now we need to do the right path and secure it." Chun-Li reminded her group of their current priority.

"I'll take care of the lever." Kevin told his aliles as he went inside the guardhouse and activated the lever to move from left to the right.

While Kevin operated the lever, Hiryu's O-Watch beeped a bit to inform the SHADOW agent that a message had arrived from the Center.

* * *

><p>Inside Cabin ground floor, outskirts of El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Dan looked at his O-Watch and heard the beeping as well.<p>

"A message?" From the Center?"

"Something the matter?" Ashley asked Dan when the blonde girl saw the Malaysian staring at his O-Watch.

"Nothing to be concerned about." Dan told the First Daughter. "Something from my organization."

"Is it important?"

"Just some messages from my superior. Usually we're told to maintain communications blackout unless it's really important."

* * *

><p>Outside Guardhouse, near Cabin, outskirts of El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"And we got ourselves a new path."<p>

Hiryu commented when he saw the right wooden gate open up. However, the only problem is that the left wooden gate had to be closed up. It was unfortunate. But given the machinery the villagers had done, it was also probably a security measure instituted by Los Illuminados to ensure the "safety" of its location from intruders.

"I guess we should move then?" Martin said after the gate opened up.

Fujino and Hiryu's O-Watch beeped up after Dan had received his. The two SHADOW agents noted from glancing at their watches that it had an encrypted message sent by MOM, courtesy of the SID.

"Is something the matter there?" Chun-Li asked the two SHADOW agents.

"It's something from our superior." Fujino told Chun-Li. "But we were told to communicate only when we have to since we have been instructed to not contact the Center due to a blackout."

"Fujino and I will take care of that." Hiryu replied to Chun-Li.

"Well, what are we waiting for guys?" Kevin told his teammates after the right wooden gate had opened up. "Let's go!" He drew out his Glock 21 Mariner from his shoulder holster.

"Here goes." Yu followed behind Kevin, shouldering his G3A4 on his right shoulder.

"We'll take care of this later, Fujino." Hiryu told the Japanese SHADOW agent.

"I understand."

* * *

><p>Camp, Left Path, outskirts of El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Leon and his team were inside what appears to be a wooden-made camp that is reminiscent of a Roman Army field camp. Filled with towers, walkways and bridges, the place seemed to be a bit complicated. It looked like it may take a while for the team to clear the area. The rain in the area began to decrease ever since Leon first set foot in the camp.<p>

"Looks clear to me." Hien murmured, moving alongside Leon on the newly discovered path.

"Just stay on your toes." Leon told the young Spriggan, pumping his Remington 870 since he didn't have time to load a 12 gauge buckshot. He had just reloaded it only with ammo he found from where the corpses of the villagers were during the siege.

Leon and his team walked very carefully along the path they're on to avoid walking into an ambush or a trap. That was the last thing any one of them want to be on.

A female villager was heard shouting before she charged in towards Leon, brandishing a lit torch.

"Incoming!" Cammy shouted.

Eriko aimed her P228 at the torch-wielding villager and fired twice at the villager's right leg, forcing her to kneel.

"Here I come!" Cammy came dashing in after the villager accidentally dropped her lit torch, which started to burn her body up. "Cannon Spike!"

Leon aimed the Remington 870 at the down villager after Cammy executed her Cannon Spike, approaching the villager before the DSO agent fired his shotgun three times.

"Over there!" Hien pointed to a parked cart with some barrels nearby.

"Hold on!" Leon warned Hien not to shoot, seeing the legs of villagers shuffling towards them.

"Wha..." Hien was about to rebuke Leon when Jean pointed to the barrels on the cart. "Oh, I see."

"Wait for it." Leon told the Spriggans, waiting for a few more seconds before he saw one of the villagers shuffling their feet next to the cart.

"Do we fire?" Eriko asked Leon, aiming her P228 at the cart.

"Almost..." Leon told the detective, now seeing two villagers shuffling next to the cart. "NOW!"

Eriko nodded, firing her sidearm twice at the cart. It then exploded, taking out a few number of villagers out.

Jill went to pick up the dropped pesetas, which was around 1300 pesetas.

* * *

><p>Dirt Path, Right Path, outskirts of El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Kevin and his team had just went inside the right pathway when they heard echoes nearby. Like Leon, Kevin noted that the rain was decreasing as well.<p>

"Looks like things have just started." Tea commented after hearing the echoes.

"Gunshots?" Hiryu asked Tea before he shouldered his G36C.

Tea nodded in reply.

"Path's all clear." Yu observed the pathway ahead of him. "What do we do?"

"We run." Kevin told the Japanese Spriggan agent. "I'm sure this is going to be a breeze."

But when the team ran alongside Kevin down the dirt path, which leads to a wooden gate, an El Gigante landed a few meters near the team.

"What is that?" Sho shouted, feeling the ground below his feet vibrate.

"El Gigante?" Fujino said loud, turning around to see the giant.

"Crap!" Chun-Li yelled in anger, seeing another giant that they need to face. But instead of panicking, she went to look around to see if they can use anything to slow down El Gigante.

"Over there!" Kevin pointed up, seeing a wooden platform with a boulder placed on top.

"Yu!" Hiryu crouched, aiming the G36C's telescope sight. He then went for the rifle's fire selector, switching from single shot to full automatic.

"Follow my lead!" Yu shouted, getting the G3A4's fire selector to switch from single shot mode to full automatic. He started to fire at the platform's wooden supports below.

"AAHHH!" Hiryu joined in and fired his G36C at the platform's wooden supports.

Thanks to the gunfire, the supports eventually broke down and allowed the boulder to land just in front of the El Gigante. Thanks to the surprise, the El Gigante was left confused on how the boulder fell down straight in front of him.

"Now it is our chance to strike back!" Sho said calmly as he drew out Lightning Light from the saya calmly. "We must fight El Gigante while it's confused or we all forfeit our lives!"

"All in favor of just fleeing?" Kevin asked, raising his right arm up high. To his surprise, he didn't see anyone raise their arms up. Instead, Hiryu and Yu joined up with Sho as they ran up towards the confused El Gigante. Fujino ran up alongside Martin and Tea, following behind the ninja.

"It seems they're all against your decision, Mr. Kevin Ryman." Chun-Li spoke to the DSO agent, who just simply smirked.

"God dammit..." Kevin gritted his anger as he unslinged his SSG P IV. "Oh well, may as well go in and help them."

* * *

><p>Unknown Control Room<p>

* * *

><p>Wesker was seated all alone in his own control room, going over data given to him. Mostly by Ada and from the data he acquired from his years with Umbrella before he was officially "declared dead" to the entire world. This allowed him to work slowly, which was a sort of blessing to the man's eyes.<p>

"This is perfect data Emoto acquired from his days with the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department." The shades-wearing man said while going over the Bee Number reports, which were translated from Japanese to English thanks to the custom-made software. "It's a shame the Center had to kill him back in Tokyo."

_And that it's convenient for me to read it without any translation problems._

Wesker grinned, leafing through page by page displayed on the main console placed in front of him.

"This could be a start for my plans to create my own version of Umbrella." Wesker murmured. "But I'll also need to capture a parasite sample from Los Illuminados. For that part of my plan, I need Kenny, Krauser and Ada to try and get at least one."

He had a wicked grin on his face.

"And as long as I can secure that plaga and integrate it with the Bee Number reports, my future is secured."

Chapter 9 END

* * *

><p>PS - I guess I should explain what the features of the Omega Watch (aka the O-Watch) are and what makes them different from the U-Watches in the Martin Mystery cartoon since SHADOW agents are issued with them. While these O-Watches have almost the same functions as the U-Watch, most itemsfunctions included, they do have some differences.

* Binoculars - Military-grade binoculars with 4x, 8x, 16x and 32x magnification. Straps are located on both sides for easy handling. Zoom adjustment can be used to give agents a good view during surveillance.

* Communicator - Used to communicate with either fellow SHADOW agents or with the Center. Usually has a holographic mode to see the recipient of your transmission. The agent has the option to turn the holographic mode off.

* Directional Microphone - Held by a hand, it is used to spy on conversation from a distance. Accompanied with headphones to allow the agent to listen in.

* Hologram Viewer - Can be used to analyze anything from blueprints to building plans and maps. Pretty useful when you're lost somewhere. Creates 3D images of blueprints, etc. to help in navigation as an option.

* Karambit - The main offensive weapon for any SHADOW agent. Has a black blade and handle, constructed with high-quality carbon steel (for the blade) and Black Micarta (for the handle).

* Lockpick Gun - Used to force pin tumbler locks open in covert operation. Has picks that can be inserted onto the gun if the initial pick is rendered useless.

* Messenger - Used to send messages to fellow SHADOW agents or from the Center. All messages are encrypted with latest alien technology to prevent decryption.

* Push Dagger - Consists of a T-shaped blade made of high-quality carbon steel and a handle made of Black Micarta. Useful for assassination, CQC or for sentry takedowns.

* Scrambler - Has a decoder to open electronic locks and/or search for passwords to lock password-equipped doors. Also has a keycard scrambler that can used to fool keycard slot-locked doors that it has been "correctly" accessed with the proper key.

* Grappling Hook - Used for many purposes, such as climbing or pulling objects nearby. Launched from the O-Watch, it has better maneuverability and launch speed than the Turbo Bungee.

* GPS Tracker - Can track anyone or anything if and when a tracker is placed on them, 24/7/365.

* Bio Scan - Same purpose like in Martin Mystery. This also incorporates the Slime Scan technology into it.

* Legendex - Same purpose like in Martin Mystery.

* Search Mode - Enables a SHADOW agent to search for anything ranging from phone numbers to addresses.

In addition, most SHADOW agents can require modifications to have some of their equipment in the O-Watch for offensive/defensive purposes. For example, Dan's I-Cutter can have its energy blade extended similar to the beam saber used in the Gundam series/lightsaber in the Star Wars series. Mark's X-Rod can be detached into two pieces for his personal use as ballistic-type arnis sticks. However, most SHADOW agents either opt to use the X-Rod and I-Cutter as their own weapon of choice or they arm itself with firearms or melee weapons.

R&D would also creates weapons and gadgets solely for SHADOW use only.

O-Watches can be used to tell the time. Whenever the agent is in a certain part of the world with a different time/day than his home country, it will automatically adjust itself to the local time and date. This is possible thanks to alien tech that the Center had acquired to allow this possibility.

* * *

><p>In the meantime, chapter 9 has come and gone. Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Read &amp; Review as always. In the meantime, I shall begin work on "Peacekeepers" as soon as possible. So if anyone has read this, I invite you peeps to read and review my other active fic as well. Thank you.<p>

One more thing. If there's a chance that I may mention "INTERPOL" or "Interpol", don't worry about this. They're the same thing.

And I've read up on the Burial Agency one more time to get familiar with it. Not sure if I'll consider including in my potential RE 6, which would end the involvement of my main OCs with the RE hybrid world I came up with, since their duties include hunting demons and all. And since the monsters in the RE world are made from science...

Just check in the previous team for the reference on who's who on Team 1 (Leon) and Team 2 (Kevin).


	10. Journey

Resident Evil/Biohazard: Hostage Rescue

Rating: T

NOTE:

All characters of Resident Evil/Captain Commando/Street Fighter are under the copyright of Capcom. All characters of Martin Mystery are under the copyright of Marathon. All characters of Kara no Kyokai are under the copyright of TYPE-MOON. All characters of Spriggan are under the copyright of Hiroshi Takashige and Ryoji Minagawa. All characters of Jiraishin are under the copyright of Tsutomu Takahashi. The appearance of Kenneth "Kenny" Feng is under noctorro's jurisdiction. All others are under my jurisdiction.

Summary:

Leon and Kevin have parted ways temporarily to explore the two paths that would take them on the next leg of their journey in order to find a way out of Spain. But with an El Gigante and several hordes of armed villagers blocking their way, can the teams make it out alive without dying on the way? Stay tune to this chapter to find out.

Chapter 10: Journey

* * *

><p>Dirt Path, Right Path, outskirts of El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>After the El Gigante was caught by surprise when the huge boulder blocked his path, the giant roared and punched it with both of his clenched hands. But with the destroyed boulder came Yu, who charged in while he began to empty his HK G3A4 on full automatic on the giant.<p>

"Ikuzo!" yelled the Japanese Spriggan agent, firing the assault rifle at El Gigante's face and body. The young man continued doing this, knowing that he would be at risk for being clobbered outright by the giant with the possibility of being killed even if his Armored Muscle Suit would strongly protect his entire body from sudden impact and crashes.

The El Gigante roared out, on its knees after being shot at by several 7.62 NATO bullets. The parasite emerged out of its back, allowing Sho to immediately charge in and hop onto the giant's back. While the ninja began slashing it from several angles, Kevin assisted him by firing his Steyr SSG P IV from a distance. It was due to Kevin's quick hands in reloading the bolt-action sniper rifle that he added more damage to the exposed parasite, shooting only if and when Sho was out of the way because of potential friendly fire casualties.

"It's coming back!" Fujino yelled to Sho, who jumped out of the way as the parasite went back inside El Gigante.

"I got one of these!" Hiryu yelled out before he hurled a primed frag grenade, watching it go underneath El Gigante.

"Where'd you get that?" Yu asked the masked SHADOW agent.

"Would you believe it if I told you that I got it when I smashed up a nearby barrel?"

Yu fired his G3A4 once more after he reloaded the assault rifle, firing it at El Gigante while he moved around the giant to keep it pinned down. Hiryu joined in and fired the HK G36C, nearly emptying its magazine before the giant roared once more and got on its knees.

"Here goes." Kevin had aimed the SSG P IV still at El Gigante, only waiting for the parasite to be exposed.

"It's coming out." Chun-Li pointed to the DSO agent the exposed parasite.

"That's all I need." Kevin murmured, aiming the SSG P IV's riflescope as he centered the sights on the parasite. Once he got a clear shot, Kevin fired shot after shot at the exposed parasite. With his quick hands honed thanks to the time he spent in marksmanship training after being recruited to the DSO alongside Leon, the brown-haired man made quick work of the parasite.

Sho joined up with Fujino, the two Japanese nationals getting up on the back of El Gigante and used their bladed weapons to slash and stab the parasite. They knew that it had been greatly weakened thanks to the barrage of bullets and it was just a matter of time before the giant was dead permanently. It was thanks to their specialized blades that got the job done easily.

"It's working." Tea watched the fight, the British Spriggan standing beside Chun-Li. The two women witnessed the death of another El Gigante once more. Everyone ran away from El Gigante since it was coming down and fast.

"Move back!" Yu shouted, running as fast as he could before the falling El Gigante could flatten him down.

"So..." Martin mumbled after he felt a slight shock on the ground from the collapse of the giant. "Are we gonna get gold bars from his corpse once again?"

"Come on, Ominae." Hiryu sighed as he began to reload his G36C. "Might as well go and check if we can secure anything from that giant's corpse."

"Right with ya." Yu agreed with his comrade, walking towards the El Gigante's corpse.

"Hey guys." Martin greeted the two. "Is... is it dead?"

Fujino, thankfully, was near Martin when he asked the question. The Japanese SHADOW agent went up to the downed El Gigante, seeing that the giant was not trying to protect itself. She summoned a karambit from her O-Watch and proceeded to stab El Gigante at the right eyelid.

"W-what are you doing?" Kevin shouted at Fujino while in the midst of reloading the SSG P IV with a fresh 10-round magazine. "You could get it after us before it dies or something..."

"I think that answers your question, Martin." Hiryu told Martin after he noted that El Gigante was down for good and was not fighting back against the entire team. "It's not getting up. At least it's staying down forever."

"So what now then?" Martin replied to his Center comrade, now knowing that no giant will be chasing them throughout Spain for a very long time.

"We can search this place with some time on our side at least." Tea told the Canadian Center agent, looking very calm despite the situation they were in a while ago. "For now, let us see what we can dig us from this place. Especially from this giant's corpse."

* * *

><p>Camp, Left Path, outskirts of El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Leon's group had just cleared the initial group of armed villagers, still on the dirt path when they made their approach towards their destination. With the walls covering the side of the dirt path, which are made up of wooden 4x4 nailed up on wooden posts stuck on the ground, the group was able to at least not get lost and just know where to go. On the other hand, this limits their fighting space and it forces them to be on the offensive so that they can move.<p>

"We got incoming, guys." Leon told his allies, noticing an armed villager with a sickle coming towards them. As always, the sickle he wielded had a rusted blade. "Watch out!"

Eriko aimed her Sig Sauer P228 at the villager's legs, firing the pistol at the left leg before doing the right. The villager was then on his knees thanks to the shots.

"Ok!" Jean fired his Franchi SPAS-12, its pistol grip held by his right hand, while watching the villager get hit by the buckshots fired by the shotgun in semi-auto mode.

Leon swore that he saw Jean had a grin written all over his face before he shouldered his Remington 870, which he switched over his Silver Ghost for firepower reasons, as he approached the downed villager.

_I wonder if that guy's some psycho or something? _Standing just near the downed villager, Leon fired his shotgun in rapid succession. He fired buckshot after buckshot and watched them do their work. At the same time, Leon worked the Remington 870's pump handle to ensure its functionality since the weapon is a pump-action shotgun.

The villager's head eventually exploded from being by multiple buckshots, leading to the corpse being dissolved.

"Let's move. We can't linger around here any longer." Hien told his allies. "It won't be long before we're going to be in a pinch."

At the end of the dirt path, the team could be a ladder propped up against the wooden wall. It was a sure sign that they can progress.

It they can just get the two villagers out of the way.

Jill had her Beretta Px4 Storm Type F pistol at the ready, aiming first at the pitchfork-armed villager. Another villager was behind him, a female one with a rusted kitchen knife.

"Java!" Diana called out for her caveman colleague after she saw Jill fire her sidearm at the pitchfork-armed villager at his kneecaps.

Java charged in and moved his clenched left fist back before giving the final blow, hitting the villager at the face as he crashed to the female villager.

"They're still getting up..." Cammy murmured, who opted to just charge in the fight. The Delta Red operative executed a jab and a roundhouse, which was followed by a Cannon Spike attack.

"Cannon Spike!" Cammy yelled out loud, thrusting her right leg up high from the ground. The two villagers were hit in the process. But Cammy was not finished. As soon as she landed, the blonde woman executed a Spiral Arrow and struck the first villager in chest. The second one, who had been unfortunate to be behind the first one, was also hit as they were sent flying, knocking down the ladder before the villagers were down on the ground.

Just to be safe, Jean emptied his SPAS-12 on the villagers. However, both of their heads exploded and had their parasites exposed.

"Stay back!" Leon aimed his Remington 870 at the villagers after he had reloaded in a few minutes ago, firing it at their chest and legs.

Hien opted to join in, firing his Pindad SS1-M5 Commando at the parasites in full automatic mode. Thanks to sustained fire, the parasites exploded. This killed the villagers as their bodies begin to dissolve.

"They're dissolving again..." Eriko muttered as she helped Cammy prop the ladder back upright.

"It's most likely the work of the parasite being injected into humans." Cammy explained to the Japanese detective. "I'm sure it's to erase any evidence of the cult's involvement."

"All done?" Leon asked Cammy after he slinged his shotgun. Jean kicked the nearby wooden barrel to grab a box of buckshots. He opened it and grabbed the 5 buckshot shells, loading them into his SPAS-12 before the French Spriggan agent threw the empty box away.

* * *

><p>Inside Cabin ground floor, outskirts of El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Dan went over the message transmitted on his O-Watch when Ashley politely tapped on his left shoulder.<p>

"Something I can do for you, Ms. Ashley?" The Malaysian SHADOW agent closed the message before he asked the blonde woman.

"Just call me Ashley." The First Daughter insisted politely. She then told him. "But I'm just here to say that I need to go."

"I'll assume that you can't hold it in any longer now?"

Ashley just nodded.

"Alright. I can't blame you." Dan then frowned before he asked Ashley. "But this cabin doesn't have any toilet facilities."

"I-it's alright." Ashley told Dan. "I'll just relieve myself outside."

"But I'll have to keep an eye on you outside." Dan then explained when he saw that Ashley was giving him a weird look.

_Dammit... _Dan felt embarrassed, but did not show it in front of Ashley. "Don't worry, it's not like I'm going to take a peek at you or anything."

* * *

><p>Outside Cabin, outskirts of El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Dan was now outside the cabin, protecting Ashley as she went to relieve herself. He didn't know how she was doing to do it and franky, Dan didn't care since he's not like some other guy who would take a chance to peek at the First Daughter.<p>

_Only thing is the guys aren't back yet from clearing the paths and..._

The Malaysian heard beeping from his O-Watch.

"From the Center?" Dan murmured before he used his O-Watch to receive the transmission via Communicator. **"Yes?"**

**"Dan-san." **Dan saw that the transmission came from Fujino, her holographic image appearing over his O-Watch. **"Is everything alright with the First Daughter?"**

**"Don't worry about her. We're fine here. Is something wrong?"  
><strong>

Fujino shook her head. **"****The others and I are almost done clearing out path. We've just defeated an El Gigante trying to kill us."**

**"Another one, huh?"** Dan frowned after hearing the news from Fujino. **"Is everyone okay?"**

**"No one is hurt. Right now, we're just trying to acquire anything we can. Ammunition, money, herbs, etc."  
><strong>

**"Got it. Just let me know when the path's clear and I'll see you and the others."**

**"Understood."  
><strong>

Dan ended communication with Fujino, holding onto his SIG Sport 552 carbine when he saw Ashley coming towards the cabin entrance.

"I'm finished now." Ashley told Dan, patting her sweater and arms.

"All right. Get back inside." Dan opened the cabin door, letting Ashley back inside first before him. "Some of the others are clearing up the path ahead for us, but we can't stay outside the cabin for long."

* * *

><p>Dirt Path, Right Path, outskirts of El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Kevin and company began a search on the dirt path they took after killing the El Gigante, starting with the gold bars they found in his corpse. While they had eventually taken a few, most were confused on how and why Los Illuminados had created such a being that the group was able to find gold bars worth 15,000 pesetas.<p>

"This... is pretty weird." Hiryu said out loud after he handed the gold bars to Tea for safekeeping. "What does the cult benefit for letting this giant have the gold bars?"

"Maybe they're just trying to make a getaway with it." Martin said while shrugging his shoulders. "You know how those robbers did in in the Italian Job starring Mark Wahlberg..."

"I doubt we'll find an answer to that, young man." Tea reminded Martin, having a smile on her face as always.

"We've been able to find what we've been able to find so far." said Kevin as he and Yu approached the group, its members now gathering up near the cabins that had been raided for anything worth taking.

"Hopefully some ammo or grenades would be nice for a change." Hiryu commented after he adjusted the sling of his G36C, positioned in front of him for quick and easy access.

"Let's see here." Yu spoke up as he began to recall the items he and Kevin were able to loot from the abandoned cabins. "We got an incendiary grenade for starters..."

"Which I'll be carrying." Kevin tapped on his pants pocket since it was kept there.

"A Spinel, some .45 ACP ammo for Kevin with a few 9mm pistol ammo, some 5.56 NATO for yours truly," Yu handed a box of 5.56 NATO ammo to Hiryu, who accepted it. "some 7.62 NATO subsonic bullets which Kevin took for himself, 2000 pesetas and an Old Key."

"What's the key for?" Chun-Li asked, being a bit confused on why Kevin and Yu had a key with them.

"I guess we'll be finding out soon." Sho told the Interpol officer. "But before we go..." The ninja faced Fujino.

"Hai." Fujino bowed a bit to Sho. "I'll contact Dan and Ms. Graham at once..."

* * *

><p>Inside Cabin ground floor, outskirts of El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"Hmm?"<p>

Dan took a look at his O-Watch and noticed that he was receiving a transmission.

_From who this time? _The Malaysian agent noted that there was a message sent by Fujino.

**Right path cleared up. Send the First Daughter along. The others are probably**** still busy clearing up the left path.**

"We need to go right away." Dan went to Ashley, who was on a wooden chair and sleeping on the table to pass the time.

"Hmm..." Ashley woke up, a bit sleep before she rubbed her eyes to stay awake.

"My comrades have cleared up on the paths we can use. Besides we can't stay here forever."

The SHADOW agent opened the cabin door, aiming the Sport 552 outside to spot for any enemies. Once he reported that it's clear, Dan led Ashley to the guardhouse nearby.

* * *

><p>Guardhouse, near Cabin, outskirts of El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"You ready?" Dan told Ashley, who nodded as she stood behind him.<p>

"Here goes." Dan pulled the lever to the right, allowing access to the right path with the gate opened.

"Just follow me." The Malaysian shouldered the Sport 552 as he began to approach it. Ashley also began to approach the gate as well, but she stayed a bit back to allow the SHADOW agent to clear the path in case of any hostiles lingering about.

"Alright." Ashley replied to Dan. "As long as you don't run fast."

"Don't worry. I won't lose you. That's a promise."

* * *

><p>Dirt Path, Right Path, outskirts of El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"Dan!"<p>

Hiryu shouted to get Dan's attention as he caught sight of him and Ashley approaching them, the two moving on the side to steer clear of El Gigante's huge corpse because it was blocking their way.

"Hey." The two SHADOW agents greeted each other with a fist bump.

"Good to see you're safe, Dan-san." Fujino greeted Dan as well.

"Things are quiet around here." Dan said, pointing to the giant's corpse. "Aside from a genetically-made giant corpse lingering around here, that is."

"We also got a key." Hiryu told Dan before he faced Yu. "Show him the key, Ominae."

"Really?" Yu wondered why he should show the key to Dan. "O-okay then."

"Why an old key?" Dan asked Yu, who just shrugged.

"Ashley, are you okay?" Kevin went to meet up with Ashley.

"I'm fine." Ashley replied to Kevin's question. "Just wondering if we can get out of here."

"Well there's a gate up ahead." Yu did a hitchhiker's thumb position to point it out. "We can head up there and take a look and see if this old key works or not..."

"You folks go ahead." Tea looked overhead to see a nearby bucket. "I need to take care of this."

"What are you doing?" Martin asked the British Spriggan, who did not reply since she kept her gaze on the bucket.

The blonde Canadian Center agent watched Tea take something out from the overhead bucket, nearly taking him by surprise. It was his first time to see a psychic do her work, aside from the ones he had read about in books and such.

"That was awesome!" Martin shouted out loud, excited to see Tea do her work.

"Thank you kindly." Tea grinned, taking a look at the Purple gem before she pocketed it.

Kevin approached a wooden gate that was blocking their way.

"This is easy." He drew out a Gerber Emerson Alliance-type combat knife and used it to hack down the chains. To his surprise, the chains were easily broken with no resistance. Kevin then executed a forward kick, breaking the wooden gate down.

* * *

><p>Kevin's group, Ashley included, walked towards the red double doors at the end of the dirt path. Everyone wondered if they can get out with the old key they found in the area.<p>

"Hopefully this works." Kevin murmured after Yu handed him the key by tossing it to him. "Positions, everyone. Hopefully we won't need to use our weapons until then."

Hiryu, Yu and Eriko positioned behind Kevin, who was now unlocking the right door with the old key.

"Alright." Kevin murmured after he inserted the old key into the keyhole. Afterwards, the brown-haired man pulled the key to the right.

"Let's see if it works." The DSO agent drew out his Glock 21 Mariner and held it with his right hand. He began to push the left door slowly to test if it's unlocked.

"It worked." Yu murmured, telling Hiryu. He just patted his left shoulder, telling him that he got the message. "We did it."

"I'll go and take the lead." Kevin told his allies, gripping his sidearm in his right hand. He aimed the Glock's sights after he pushed the door, being wary of an ambush.

"Understood."

He looked at the others and jerked his head forward, urging them to follow him.

* * *

><p>Camp, Left Path, outskirts of El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>With the ladder propped up, Leon's group had made the decision to climb up and look for the exit. Jean was the first to get up onto the wooden-made platform, using his lycanthrope powers to assist him in taking the leap from the ground up.<p>

"What the?" Leon was surprised to see Jean perform the feat while he was climbing up the ladder.

"Did you know that he can do that?" Jill asked Hien, who was about to climb up next after Leon.

"Sure." Hien shrugged. "Everyone in the Spriggans do know that Jean's not normal." He then insisted. "But he's really a good guy."

Everyone else, Diana included, decided to take Hien's word as the truth.

_I'll forget that I asked that kind of question and figure that along with the flow._

It took a few minutes for the others to climb the ladder up. Jean stayed near the ladder, covering for the others while he ported the SPAS-12. The ponytailed man had previously checked if his weapon was already set to semi-automatic mode.

* * *

><p>Wooden Platform, Left Path, outskirts of El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"Anything?"<p>

Leon had just climbed the platform when he had just heard the sound of Jean's shotgun being fired at the armed villagers.

_Just what kind of person is this guy? _Leon could only watch Jean make short work of the villagers from a distance.

"How's he doing?" Jill asked the blonde DSO agent after climbing up the ladder.

"I think..." Leon replied while hearing Jean's SPAS-12 being fired at a villager. "he's doing fine."

The two later witnessed the French Spriggan at work, crushing the head of a downed villager with his heel of his combat boot. He stepped a few feet back, seeing a parasite take the place of the now headless villager. Jean grinned as he dropped his SPAS-12 and made a rush to get the parasite.

"W-what's happening out here?" Diana climbed the ladder as fast as her legs could take her.

"I think our French friend's taking control of the situation ahead of us."

The trio shuddered in horror, seeing Jean laugh as he took hold of the parasite by his hands and stretched it. Thanks to his lycanthrope powers, the ponytailed man took this as second nature.

"I don't know if I should vomit or not." Jill mumbled to Leon and Diana when she noted Jean's non-human strength in killing the parasite by ripping it apart with his hands.

"I think that's bloody awesome."

Hien now climbed the ladder, giving a whistle. Minutes later, Java, Eriko and Cammy climbed up the ladder onto the wooden platform to join up with their comrades.

* * *

><p>Dual Dirt Paths, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Kevin's group got out of the right dirt path and into the open, safe for the moment.<p>

Well, the only thing they can do is walk on the path that would take them in front of the castle-like structure. Considering that they've just gotten out of their predicament and that the double door doesn't seem to have a keyhole in it (Not like they can tell unless they get a bit closer for visual inspection), they can't go anywhere. A small shed in on the right side and on the left, there were wooden stairs that would take the group to someone very, very, very, familiar.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" The hooded Merchant grinned and greeted Kevin and company. "Welcome, strangahs!"

"You!" Kevin shouted, pointing a finger at him. "What are you..."

"Let me guess." Martin sighed, looking at the Merchant. "It's a trade secret and you're not telling us how you're got here."

"Perfectly well, strangah." The Merchant replied to Martin's inquiry by nodding his head. "But for now, it seems that you want to buy any of my wares today."

"We may want to sell a few of them." Tea slowly approached the Merchant, showing him a gold bar taken from El Gigante's corpse.

"Aahhhh..." The Merchant was becoming more curious and interested. "I have not seen a gold bar like this." He looked at Tea carefully. "How many of these do you have?"

"Quite a lot, my good man." Tea smiled and showed the Merchant at least four more gold bars, held on both of her gloved hands. "Here you are."

"Aahhh..." The Merchant nodded after looking at the gold bars he took from Tea. "I seem to notice from the previous gold bars I got from you lot are UBS-based." He then was in his train of thought before he said. "But that part doesn't matter. For I'll buy it at a high price."

"Same price then?"

The Merchant nodded, who collected the gold bars before he handed Tea a small box of pesetas inside.

"15,000 as promised like the last time." The hooded man asked Tea. "Though I'm not sure how you can handle all the pesetas..."

"Don't worry." The British Spriggan assured the Merchant. "I have ways to handle that problem. As of now, we don't have much."

"I see. Anything else that you want to sell?"

"I have this." Tea showed the Merchant a bunch of Spinels

"Aahhh..." The Merchant was quite happy to see the Elegant Mask, as well as the Spinels Tea brought out. "You're looking good in terms of selling your wares."

"How much?"

"Initial price is 15,000, with the addition of at least a 1,000. Depending on the Spinels I got with me..."

* * *

><p>"I think this is going well." Hiryu commented, when he saw the Merchant hand Tea another box full of pesetas. "Especially with the money we're going to make, I think we're going to make this Merchant a very happy camper."<p>

"Now I really wonder how is she going to handle all of those boxes full of money?" Ashley asked her rescuers, watching Tea conduct most of the bargaining in terms of selling the items the team had collected throughout their mission until right now.

"Trust me..." Yu told the First Daughter. "Tea's got a secret on that. And she's not telling anyone." He pointed to Hiryu. "Not even him."

"It must be only me." Sho spoke his mind to everyone else. "But I am most certainly grateful that the Merchant is here when we need his assistance. Almost makes me wonder if the cult does know of his presence." The ninja cleared his throat before he continued. "And if they do, why didn't they notice the Merchant in their territories?"

"That is a good question." Dan told Sho. "I guess we'll never find out why Los Illuminados didn't bother to take out the Merchant. It's a blessing that he's around to help us when we need him."

"So what then?" Ashley asked around. "As much as I want you guys to go off and help Leon get away from the other path, I just want to rest up here. I feel a bit tired all of a sudden."

"Hmm..." Kevin mused upon hearing what Ashley had said. "I have a feeling that it's due to whatever the cult inserted onto us." The brown-haired man approached Ashley and asked her. "Are you going to be okay?"

Ashley nodded.

"If some of you would want to rest up here at least, then go ahead." Kevin told his group. "But we'll need to reinforce Leon so that he can get out from the other side a bit faster." The DSO agent went to press the question. "Any volunteers?"

"I could go." Hiryu told Kevin.

"Same." Fujino volunteered as well.

"I will go with the young ones." Sho told Kevin.

"Then it's settled." Kevin said after hearing who volunteered. "Hiryu, Sho and Fujino will go to the left path and assist Leon to make sure he and his team can get out safely." He then continued. "The others, including myself, will stay here and rest up while we keep an eye on the First Daughter to ensure her safety."

"Let us move then." Sho told Hiryu and Fujino. The two SHADOW agents nodded at Sho's direction, the duo running down the steps and down the paths to follow the ninja as he had made a running start ahead.

* * *

><p>Catwalks, Left Path, outskirts of El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Leon approached Jean, who had just picked up his SPAS-12 after killing off the last villager.<p>

"You know, I just want to say that what I've seen so far is the most disgusting thing ever."

Jean raised an eyebrow after hearing Leon's ranting. "Really?"

"Yes, really." Leon was wondering if the French Spriggan had something to say, considering that Jean didn't look fazed from his ranting.

"It's second nature. I'm used to this sort of thing."

"Remember what I told you..." Hien approached Leon and reminded him.

"Oh, fine."

Jean raised an eyebrow. "Something I should know about?"

"Not really." Hien handed Jean and Leon some shotgun shells. "Got a couple of small boxes with buckshots. Jill found them, looking around while you guys were a bit bickering."

"We're not bickering." Leon told the masked Spriggan.

"Of course you weren't." Hien rolled his eyes after hearing the DSO agent. "Anyway, is it clear from here?"

"Looks like it." Jean told his Spriggan colleague. "But the pit down there is like a death trap, waiting for someone to go down and be killed."

"So... how are we going to resolve this?" Diana asked Jean when she heard his concerns.

"We obviously need someone who's quick on their feet while he or she doesn't hesitate being on the move."

"Great." It was now Eriko's turn to roll her eyes when she heard Jean's proposal. "In other words, you need someone who has no problems being bait with the potential of being killed in the process."

* * *

><p>Near Red Gate, Dual Dirt Paths, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Fujino, Hiryu and Sho approached a red gate that was adjacent towards another gate. To start things off, the Japanese SHADOW agent tried to see if she can get the red gate to open by just pushing it.<p>

"It is no good." Fujino told the other two. "It's quite shut from the other side."

"Either it's locked." Hiryu prepped his G36C. "Or the villager's got the common sense to bar it with a 4x4."

"Allow me." Sho laid a hand on the masked SHADOW agent's left shoulder.

"Master..." Hiryu was confused why he was stopped.

"Your weapon could bring us more trouble than we ever need." Sho explained to his ex-protégé why Hiryu should not unload his German-made compact assault rifle onto the red gate.

"But are you going to..."

Sho nodded. "Allow me." He drew out Lightning Light from the saya strapped on his back. When the ninja had a very firm grip on the ninjato's tsuka, Sho charged at the red gate before he executed several slashes.

"He's amazing..." Fujino could only watch in amazement to see the Ninja Commando at work.

"He's not the Ninja Commando for nothing." Hiryu told his SHADOW comrade. "After all, he did train the first generation of SHADOW agents before you even came into the picture."

"All is done." Sho told the SHADOW agents. "The only thing we need to do is to greet our hosts from inside this facility."

"Just leave that part to me, master." Hiryu approached the red gate, zipping up the collar of his Armored Machine Suit. When the SHADOW agent stood in front of the gate, he eyed it to locate the area where Lightning Light had placed its blade on.

"Right... here." The masked SHADOW agent placed his gloved hand on what appeared to be blade-made incisions for an entryway that would allow normal humans to pass through.

He flexed his gloved hand and reared it back. A few seconds later, Hiryu brought the clenched fist back to the red gate in order to punch it.

* * *

><p>Catwalks, Left Path, outskirts of El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"Did you hear that? Sounded like someone tried to make a punch."<p>

Jill told Leon after she met up with him and the others.

"I don't know." Leon frowned. "Sounds like a punch to me."

"Well..." Jean told the others. "What are we waiting for? Let's not stick around here."

"Agreed." Eriko agreed with Jean. "We need to move. It could be the others trying to mount an offensive against the enemy from the back."

"Time to move it." Hien got his SS1-M5 Commando at the ready before the masked Spriggan prepares to jump down to the pit.

Leon's group went to prepare their weapons before getting ready to step down on the pit and meet with the opposition.

* * *

><p>Long Path, Left Path, outskirts of El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>The trio were able to breach through the gate, which was destroyed in the punch attack. Thanks to the power of the Armored Machine Suit, despite having some power sacrificed to give the wearer a high degree of agility, the red gate was completely destroyed to the point that it broke away when the punch occurred.<p>

"Such amazing power." Fujino commented when she saw the red gates now moving back and forth like double saloon doors you see in a Western town.

"Thanks." Hiryu smirked. "But we can't stop here. We need to move before the villagers get a jump on us."

The trio moved down the path, passing through a couple of columns that were partially made by wood with the base made by wooden stakes to create a series of palisades.

"Palisades." Sho commented as he ran down the path.

"Hold on a second." Hiryu approached a nearby wooden barrel and kicked it to get a Flashbang, which he placed on his tactical vest.

"Done?" Fujino asked as she navigated through the dirt path, which was made by sandbags, a couple of barbed wire barricades on the side and wooden lumber used to create the path.

"Aahh..." Hiryu told the Japanese SHADOW agent, leaping over some sandbags. "We'll need to move before the villagers get the jump on us."

As the trio were now approaching the end of the path, they spotted a small shed on the side. The ninja told the SHADOW agents to watch his back while he conducts a quick raid to secure whatever can be taken from the shed.

* * *

><p>Shed, Long Path, Left Path, outskirts of El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"Awfully quiet."<p>

The ninja said after he cut down the door with Lightning Light, finding a barricaded window thanks to wooden 4x4s with an open hatch. He then sheathed the ninjato in his saya for the time being.

Sho crouched down and began to concentrate, using his Ninja Eyes to locate any enemies down the hatch. After a few seconds, Sho nodded in satisfaction that no enemies were located.

"Just a wooden barrel." The ninja hopped down and ran towards the barrel. He then executed a spinning kick to break it, revealing an unused Frag Grenade.

_Better save this up_. He grabbed the weapon and took it with him. Sho ran back up to the main floor, performing a double jump to get there from the basement floor.

_And now, for the barricaded window. _Sho walked towards the window and got out Lightning Light to slice the 4x4s, revealing a passageway.

"Two barrels." Sho murmured as he ran towards them, kicking each one of them with a forward kick. The Ninja Commando saw that the barrels had a Flashbang and a Red Gem.

"Perfect." Sho knelt down and picked up the Red Gem. "This could be what Tea-san needs."

Pocketing the Red Gem, Sho picked up the Flashbang before he ran back inside the shed and outside to meet up with Hiryu and Fujino.

* * *

><p>Long Path, Left Path, outskirts of El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"Master."<p>

Hiryu slightly bowed to greet Sho when he emerged out of the shed. "Anything of interest?"

"There is." Sho handed Hiryu the Frag and Flashbang grenades. "Considering your current profession, these may be of good use to you."

"Thank you, Master." Hiryu took the grenades and ensured that they were on his tactical vest for easy reach should the SHADOW agent need it for an upcoming battle.

"Let us move." Sho advised the young ones. "We might be able to get the jump on the enemies trying to ambush our comrades."

* * *

><p>Pit, Left Path, outskirts of El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Leon's team had a hard time deciding who should be the one responsible in taking the lead. After some time with deliberation and such, Cammy "agreed" to volunteer in scouting out the pit below and see if it's clear of any villagers.<p>

"I'll go and do it." Cammy told her allies. "Goddamn blokes." She murmured under her breath when the Delta Red operative jumped down from the wooden catwalk.

After the blonde woman did so, she frowned when she thought she heard something being revved up. Like a sedan's engine.

"Wait a second..."

Cammy was hesitant to move, not sure of what she's hearing.

"Got a bad feeling on this." Leon shouldered his Remington 870 and aimed the shotgun down the pit.

The two were right in their hesitation when some wooden 4x4s were broken down, revealing a woman in villager-type clothing with bandages wrapped around her head. The bandages, however, seemed to be falling off. This gave the woman some allowance in her vision.

"Bloody hell." Cammy was stunned to see the woman was brandishing a chainsaw.

And its motor was already turned on.

This type of ganado, known as the Bella Sisters, were a much more dangerous version of Doctor Salvador since they usually roam in pairs. They use this by cornering the opposition before the sisters cut them down permanently with the chainsaws in close quarters. And since they have plagas in their bodies, the opposition would have a hard time in killing them. Except if they have weapons like RPGs and grenades to slowly kill them.

"A chainsaw!" Diana yelled out. "And I though we dealt with them already!"

Another woman leaped down to the pit from the opposite side of the catwalks Leon's group was standing on. Like the first woman, she too had bandages partially wrapped around her and was armed with a running chainsaw.

"They're not the only ones we need to worry!" Jill shouted, aiming her sidearm at four villagers who had somehow shown up in the catwalks despite the fact that it had been cleared of them minutes ago.

"Split up!" Leon told his allies. "Take care of the villagers!" He then aimed the Remington 870's iron sights. "I'll go and help Cammy take care of these bastards!"

* * *

><p>Long Path, Left Path, outskirts of El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Fujino was the first to reach the end of the path, which led to a metallic door.<p>

"A gunbattle." Fujino told Hiryu and Sho. "I can hear gunshots from the other side of this door."

"Then we must not waste any more time." Sho replied to Fujino. "Can the door be opened?"

Hiryu went to the metal door and took a hold of the ring-shaped handle. He then pushed and pulled it. "No good. Locked from the other side, that's for sure."

"Allow me." Fujino went for her O-Watch to access the I-Cutter. After getting a hold of the handle, she activated the energy blade. Seconds later, pure energy dissipated from the handle for it to assume the form of a 7.25 inch blade.

"By all means." Hiryu slinged his G36C at his back and drew out his Fairbarn-Sykes fighting knife. Fujino began her work, using the I-Cutter's energy blade to cut out the ring handle from the metal door.

"Such technology." Sho was a bit surprised to see the Japanese SHADOW agent handle an I-Cutter.

"She's becoming one of the best SHADOW agents after Dan and I became SHADOW agents." Hiryu told Sho, flipping the Fairbarn-Sykes so that he held the combat knife upside down with the blade pointed down towards the ground.

"A great way to use her talents to protect world peace."

"That I concur, master."

"All clear." Fujino told Hiryu and Sho, holding the I-Cutter upside down like Hiryu did for his Fairbarn-Sykes.

"I'll take the lead." Hiryu used his free hand to slowly push the metal door, peeking inside to see Jill and Eriko engage two villagers on the catwalks. Leon, on the other hand, was helping Cammy engage the Bella Sisters.

"Anything?"

"Yeah. They're being engaged. Looks like they've been jumped by chainsaw-wielding villagers."

"Again..."

"Now's not the time to complain. Let us move forward."

"Right."

* * *

><p>Pit, Left Path, outskirts of El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Cammy, used her martial arts to keep the Bella Sisters at bay. Leon and Jean unloaded their buckshots onto the sisters in order to keep them down. She was joined by Java, who decided to use his brute caveman strength to assist.<p>

"Fighting in close quarters is one of Delta Red's specialties..." Cammy muttered diving low to avoid a swipe from the chainsaw's running saw chains. "but fighting against someone with a running chainsaw while under the influence of a cult-based organism is something I didn't have training for."

"And here we are!"

The metallic door was nearly kicked off its hinges, revealing Sho, Fujino and Hiryu. This time, Sho had his Lighting Light at the ready.

"It's them!" Jean shouted as he fired the last buckshot at the Bella Sisters. The ponytailed man moved away a bit to spend some time reloading his SPAS-12.

"Some villagers are up the catwalks! Can you help?" Jill shouted at Sho while she kept her fire at the villagers, only for Eriko to kill one of them by shooting their head.

Sho nodded, executing another double jump to the platform and take down a couple of the villagers, slicing them in half by the waist. The ninja charged for the last villager, going for a head stab.

"He's good." Jill said as she made her retreat back to the direction of the pit. "Eriko, let's go!"

"R-right!" Eriko ran back to the pit as well with Jill.

* * *

><p>Dual Dirt Paths, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>For some reason, the Merchant was kind enough to distribute water to Kevin's group. While most of them thought that it was due to the Merchant's kindness because they were the only ones wiling to do business with them in the Spanish countryside, Kevin thinks otherwise.<p>

_I don't know about this. Shouldn't the Merchant be trying to ask us money for this? Not that I question the Merchant's kindness. _

Kevin stared at the Merchant, who handed Ashley a plastic bottle of water.

_If he does have them..._

"Are you alright?"

Yu approached Kevin, who had just consumed his bottle of water.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Kevin sighed before he drank his bottle of water. He then spoke to Yu after finishing it. "I just got this gut feeling that we need to do something else after we meet with Leon and company."

"Is that something you come up when you're with the DSO?"

"Never mind." Kevin was surprised at this since neither he nor Leon never told the others about their affiliation with the DSO as secret agents. "Just something I had ever since I survived Raccoon City. It's something I ran up with ever since I joined up with the agency."

"How much longer do we have to wait?" Ashley asked Kevin, who was seen seated down on the steps to get a break.

"I don't know really." Kevin told the First Daughter. "Are you alright there, Ms. Ashley?"

Ashley nodded. "Tired I guess. But I'm fine. I... just needed to sit down. Feeling a bit tired from running. My feet kinda hurt. Sorry, Kevin."

Kevin nodded when he heard Ashley's answer. "Good to hear. And it's okay. Just try to rest and conserve as much energy as you can until Leon and the other can rendezvous with us here."

"Okay. Thanks."

* * *

><p>Pit, Left Path, outskirts of El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Leon covered for Jean, emptying his shotgun onto the Bella Sisters until Jean could ensure that his shotgun was ready for combat. After a lull in shotgun blasts, the Bella Sisters stood up with their chainsaws at the ready.<p>

On the other hand, Fujino and Hiryu were ready to take the fight towards the Bella Sisters.

"Fujino! Let's split up and take those women down!"

"Understood!"

The two SHADOWs went off to take down one Bella Sister each, charging in with their knives.

_One of them has some kind of key placed around her neck. _Fujino noted some key was placed in a string, which served as some kind of necklace for one of the Bella Sisters walking fast towards her. _Looks like it's for the door, but I better take it to be sure._

The purple-haired teenager made a dash for the Bella Sister, using the I-Cutter's energy blade to cut the string. Once in arm's length, Fujino managed to grab the key before she did a combat roll. Thanks to SHADOW training, this became an instinct to her since all she did afterwards was to spring up from the grounds, legs pushed up first.

Hiryu grinned when he saw Fujino's handiwork. _That's the Fujino we know back __in SHADOW._

The masked SHADOW agent stood toe-to-toe against the second Bella Sister, who was beginning to swing the chainsaw meant to cut the agent vertically.

"Like that's going to happen!" Hiryu held his Fairbarn-Sykes overhead as the chainsaw's saw chains made contact with the knife's Orihalcon-made blade.

"Heh." Hiryu grinned as the Bella Sister was in shock to see Hiryu's the Orihalcon blade blocking the saw chains from cutting him up. "How do you like them apples now..."

He forced the chainsaw away from him and then followed it by using the Orihalcon blade to stab at the Bella Sister's forehead. This forced the woman to take a few steps back while being in pain.

"Good work!" Cammy shouted at Hiryu before she ran towards the Bella Sister, disarming her by performing a CQC or in her words, Cammy's Quick Combination.

"Here's a present for you." Cammy smirked when she saw the Bella Sister try and attack her with the chainsaw. Thanks to the big pit made in the area, this gave the blonde woman some room in leaping and landing on her shoulders.

"Whoa..." Hiryu was amazed to see that Cammy even could do her CQC in the pit.

The Delta Red operative snaps the Bella Sister by the neck, killing her.

"Easy." But Cammy wasn't finish there. The woman proceeded to another attack by grabbing the Bella Sister's left arm and snapping it by the time she was on the ground.

Cammy completed her CQC combo by spinning around with the Bella Sister on the ground. She grabbed her head and twisted the neck again one more time.

"It's all over."

* * *

><p>Fujino collected the key taken from the Bella Sister's neck, pocketing it before she engaged the chainsaw-wielding woman. She dashed towards her, remembering to duck down to avoid being decapitated.<p>

"Take this!" The SHADOW agent yelled out loud, using the I-Cutter's energy blade to make a slash attack on her arm to create a deep wound.

The Bella Sister shouted, being forced to drop her chainsaw with her free hand used to get a grip on the wound.

Java intervened to assist Fujino, delivering a strong punch to the Bella Sister in the face. When the caveman saw her stagger a few feet back, Java delivered another attack by using his clenched fists to strike her in the face to send her flying towards a couple of wooden barrels.

"Thank you, Java."

"Java help Fujino."

As the clobbered Bella Sister tried to stand up and fight back, both Fujino and Java saw that the bandaged woman collapsed onto the ground, back first. They noted that some of the gunshots they heard just now came from Hiryu's G36C, who had used it instead of his stored Fairbarn-Sykes.

"That ought to keep her down permanently."

* * *

><p>Dual Dirt Paths, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Dan looked up at the night sky when he heard some echoes of gunshots before it ceased.<p>

"Looks like I don't hear any more gunfire from the other side of the area."

Kevin also looked up the night sky and shared Dan's assessment. "Seems to be. I just hope no one's been seriously injured out there."

"I doubt if Jean's the one who's going to get injured in these places." Yu rolled his eyes, giving his thoughts. "He's like a beast when it comes to fighting, with the emphasis of _beast_ in close quarters."

"It sounds like you fought together alongside this Jean guy for so long." Martin spoke to the Japanese Spriggan.

"Indeed I have." Yu replied. "Enough to know when he's in a bad mood or not."

"Anything else we should know?" Kevin asked Yu.

Yu pondered on the brown-haired DSO agent's question. He then said. "Just be careful when Jean's wounded pretty bad."

"Wha?" Kevin and mostly everyone else, except Yu, were confused on what Yu was talking about when he said to avoid Jean in case he was wounded badly in a fight.

"Best we prepare for the eventual reunion." Chun-Li told Kevin's group, who was also seated down on a wooden step. "We don't know what on the other side of this so-called village anyway."

"Hm. Good point."

* * *

><p>Pit, Left Path, outskirts of El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Fujino, Hiyru and Sho got together with everyone in Leon's group, the trio knowing that they're safe and sound.<p>

"Good to see you bro." Hiryu greeted Hien with a fistbump.

"Fujino." Diana smiled when she saw Fujino, who was with Java. She jumped down to the pit with Java to greet her.

"Where's everyone else?" Jill asked Sho when she came down the catwalk to the pit by jumping down together with Eriko.

"They're waiting outside." Sho told the woman. "But we must hurry. We don't know if there will be other enemies waiting for us to ambush us before we can get out of here."

"That I can agree with." Leon replied to the ninja after he jumped down from the catwalk, reloading his Remington 870. "Is the coast clear?" Jean and Eriko were the last ones to jump down from the catwalk to the pit.

"Yes." Hiryu nodded. "But like my master said, it won't be if we linger around here for long."

"What are we for then?" Eriko said as she reloaded her sidearm then.

"Just follow us." Hiryu told Leon and his group. "Gotta warn you that the villagers tried to make the path a bit difficult with sandbag and a couple of barbed wire barricades, but otherwise the path is still open."

* * *

><p>Long Path, Left Path, outskirts of El Pueblo, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"I shall run ahead." Sho told Hiryu as soon as the group passed through the busted metal door. "Cover for me, will you?"<p>

Hiryu nodded at his master's command. "Yes, master. And be careful."

Fujino showed the others the key she took from the Bella Sister she fought with.

"Was that the key to the door we just passed through?" Diana asked the younger Center agent. "Looks kinda old and, I don't know, kinda rusty to me. Is it usable?"

"Yes, it was, Diana-san." Fujino replied. "I examined the key and checked it on the keyhole a while ago and it exactly fits." The purple-haired teenager told the Canadian woman. "But since it fits, I don't think we'll need this anymore because it was only used to unlock the door before I rendered it useless completely."

"Oh well." Jean shrugged his shoulders after hearing what Fujino had heard before seeing her discard the key by throwing it away.

Sho was at the other end of the long path, waving at Leon to indicate that the path was clear.

"Better move." Leon slinged his Remington 870 and instead, drew out his Silver Ghost as his main weapon. "I'll go first. The rest of you, go back me up and make sure we're not being followed."

Leon moved first, navigating through the path with Hiryu and Fujino following behind since they had been in the area before. The others slowly walked behind them, not knowing if they'll be ambushed from the back or if they'll expect anything else like the surprise appearance of the Bella Sisters.

"Looks like we'll be in for a rough one." Cammy commented, being one of the last to cover the rear.

"I know that." Hien agreed with Cammy's thoughts, following behind the British woman since he has a firearm and he could cover more ground than Cammy if she fought in close quarters.

Chapter 10 END

* * *

><p>PS - I hope you guys enjoyed Chapter 10 as much as I enjoyed doing it. Look for more of my works in Peacekeepers. However, there won't be a chapter update (At least, right away). That's because I need to work on updating Chapter 2 once again, which was overwritten with another chapter thanks to an idiotic mistake I made last night. Since the 2nd chapter's gone, including the timeline, I need to spend some time putting it up once again. The chapter stuff won't be a problem, but the timeline will be since I'll need to go over everything again to make sure I didn't miss a thing.<p>

Who knows, I could use this opportunity to tweak the timeline even better.

*Sigh*

Like I said, don't expect an immediate update for another Peacekeepers chapter until I update Chapter 2 so that I can fix it. Thanks and I appreciate your patience in doing so.

In the meantime, I didn't follow with the left path after the cabin and all in terms of the many villagers Leon would encounter since (1): Fujino, Hiryu and Sho breached the rear end of the left path before the Bella Sisters and (2): The trio caught them nearly by surprise. So I though they'll just navigate along without seeing a lot of opposition and meet up before taking on the next boss, who'll be the bald guy. Be sure to look forward to that part, eh?

Peace out!


	11. The Unknown

Resident Evil/Biohazard: Hostage Rescue

Rating: T

NOTE:

All characters of Resident Evil/Captain Commando/Street Fighter are under the copyright of Capcom. All characters of Martin Mystery are under the copyright of Marathon. All characters of Kara no Kyokai are under the copyright of TYPE-MOON. All characters of Spriggan are under the copyright of Hiroshi Takashige and Ryoji Minagawa. All characters of Jiraishin are under the copyright of Tsutomu Takahashi. The appearance of Kenneth "Kenny" Feng is under noctorro's jurisdiction. All others are under my jurisdiction.

Summary:

Leon's group was successfully able to end their journey in clearing out the path for the teams to progress. What awaits them as they prepare to leave El Pueblo? Will they be able to find a way of the village even with the odds are against them? Stay tune to this chapter to find out.

Chapter 11: The Unknown

* * *

><p>Dual Dirt Paths, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Leon's group, alongside Fujino, Hiryu and Sho, were now reunited with Kevin's group on the wooden landing at the right dirt path.<p>

"Hey, man!" Kevin greeted Leon by exchanging fist bumps. "Glad to see you're still in one piece."

"You think I'll drop dead?" Leon smirked at Kevin after the two DSO agents finished exchanging fist bumps.

The others exchanged greetings, glad to see that they're still alive while the Merchant was polite enough to provide bottled water.

"So what's next?" Sho asked, now that the teams are together for the meantime.

"I guess we need to rest up for a while since most of us are tired from clearing the two paths." Yu suggested their next course of action to the ninja.

"I can go and scout ahead." Dan offered himself as a volunteer.

"Is something ahead?" Chun-Li asked the Malaysian SHADOW agent.

"I couldn't help it, but I spotted a small shed nearby." Dan told the Interpol officer, pointing to the said shed down the path, which was located on the side. "It's probably nothing, but it doesn't hurt to be very sure."

"Oh, it's just nearby." Diana commented, who was able to find the shed Dan mentioned. "Say Dan, do you want to take Java with you to be on the safe side?"

"Sure." Dan nodded. He faced Java. "Come on, Java. Back me up."

"Java back up Dan."

* * *

><p>Outside Shed, Right Dirt Path, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Dan led the way, aiming the Sig Sport 552 carbine at the shed. Java followed the SHADOW agent, his clenched fists at the ready.<p>

"Java feel a bit nervous." Java murmured to Dan as they stopped to check the outside of the shed.

"Don't worry, Java." Dan reassured the caveman. He stopped to pick up a box of 9mm pistol ammo and pocketed it. "It's an easy job, so we'll backtrack once we're done here."

Java nodded after hearing Dan out. "Java understand what Dan said."

Dan smirked at Java. "Attaboy Java."

Immediately, Dan stacked up at the shed door with the Sport 552 at the ready. Java stood at the side, ready to assist him.

"Java." Dan turned his head around to face the caveman. "Do me a favor and bust the door down."

Java asked Dan. "Java wants to know if there's a trap."

Dan sighed. "We'll take the risk anyway. I'll take responsibility if something happens."

The caveman nodded, understand Dan's orders. Java approached the door and kicked it with all of his might.

"Awesome, Java." Dan came to the caveman and patted him on the arm. "Good job."

Java nodded and gave Dan the thumbs up.

* * *

><p>Inside Shed, Right Dirt Path, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Dan was the first to enter the shed. Having a firearm with him, it was useful for the Center black ops agent to eliminate any hostiles should he encounter any.<p>

"All right..." murmured Dan, going inside to check the front and the rear of the shed. He found that it was clear of hostiles. "All's clear, ladies and gentlemen."

"No bad guys in here." Java commented after going inside the shed, following Dan.

"There aren't, Java." Dan told the caveman. "Which is a good thing for the two of us. I don't want to engage in a firefight unless needed."

Java spotted some lockers that are on the ground, pointing them out to Dan.

"Thanks." Dan slinged the 552 carbine on his back before he approached the lockers, finding one that was still standing up next to a locker that was on the ground. He noted that a piece of paper was left on top of it.

_Strange. Unless the enemy's kind of dumb, it may be worth of importance._

Dan took the paper and kept it with him. He then opened the locker door, which was done without any difficulty at all.

"Here goes." Dan took a hold of the locker handle and opened it, ready to get out either his sidearm or combat knife in case of a booby trap.

"Ammo, huh?" Dan was relieved that no booby trap was inside the locker. Instead, there was a box of 7.62 NATO ammo. "I'll take that."

He took a look at the box carefully before pocketing the box. "Looks like subsonic ammo. Makes me wonder how country people like these villagers are able to acquire security forces-only ammo?"

"Dan finished?" Java asked if Dan was finished since he was conducting rear guard duty.

"We're done here, Java. Let's go and see the others." Dan told Java as he got the 552 carbine ready again.

The two went out of the shed and en route to see their comrades.

* * *

><p>Dual Dirt Paths, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"Anything?" Hiryu asked Dan when he came back. Java came alongside the SHADOW agent.<p>

"Here." Dan handed the box of 7.62 NATO ammo to Yu, who accepted it. "Just got some ammo, that's all." The Malaysian handed a box of 9mm ammo. "Got 9mm ammo as well. Just divide it among yourselves. And be nice, considering we don't get many opportunities to get ammunition."

Jill took the box of 9mm ammo and divided among anyone who needed 9mm ammo.

"And I found this..." Dan got the piece of paper he found from the shed. "As usual, it's in Spanish."

"I'll have a look." Eriko took the paper from Dan. "Was this all?"

"Yeah. Aside from a lot of empty lockers."

"Lockers huh?" Martin said, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, Martin. Lockers."

"Give me a second, guys. The letter Dan found isn't that long."

Eriko began to scan over the letter to read what was on it. She could only marvel at the cult for having people who could write legible Spanish for the Japanese detective to read clearly.

**I clearly underestimated the intruders' capabilities. They are still alive. I thought that we could wait until the eggs are hatched, but at this rate, they could destroy the whole village before it does. We must take care of this nuisance. **

**We shall change our priorities - for the time being, we will cease our hunt for Luis and ambush the intruders.  
><strong>

**There is a building used to enlighten betrayers just beyond the point where you get off the lift. It's a perfect place for ambushing them. If all else fails, they still would need to face me in order to get past the last gate that leads out of the village.  
><strong>

**For only before my sight will the gate open.  
><strong>

_My sight?_

Eriko was confused by the last part on the letter.

"Anything significant in the letter?" Cammy asked Eriko.

Eriko nodded. "Looks like the cult's onto us." She then further explained. "It seems they were waiting for whatever is implanted inside us to be functional, but decided to mark us as expendable to be on the safe side."

"I wouldn't be surprised, detective." Diana told the detective before she told the others. "From the letter Ms. Eriko read out, it means the cult is trying to do anything to make sure we're dead and take the First Daughter back."

"Great." Kevin sighed. "So expect more opposition before we can get out of here?" He stretched his arms. "Why doesn't this remind me of some action movie I've seen recently?"

Sho had just dashed in, apparently from scouting out the area ahead.

"I have finished scouting the area while Dan was out checking the nearby shed." The ninja sighed before he reported his findings. "And I will say that the large gate up ahead cannot be opened manually."

"This day just keeps getting better." Leon said sarcastically. "When Kevin and I get back to HQ, I'm asking for a pay raise."

"I hear you on that, buddy." Kevin said, giving Leon the thumbs up.

Eriko remembered reading the part when it mentioned about "my sight". She decided to tell the others about it.

"Wait a second." Eriko stepped in, talking to the others about the end of the letter where it mentions about the sight. "The letter Dan obtained talked about the sight of someone before we can leave this place."

"My sight?" Chun-Li was confused. "That sounds very cryptic, Detective Aizawa."

"But that part does mean something." Fujino told the Interpol officer. "Something very important we need to acquire before we can get out of the village outskirts."

"You mean, like an eye?" Jean surmised. _That could possibly work, but it seems that's from retinal scanners._

"That's one way to look at it." Tea told Jean.

"Guess it means we need to get it from one source." Jill added.

"Okay..." Dan joined in the conversation. "I'll go and volunteer ahead since I'm already fully loaded and game..."

"You know, Dan." Hiryu smirked at him. "You should get an award when we get back to the Center."

"Real funny there, man."

"Since we're going to hunt down the chief, since he's mostly likely the source of the eye we need to take." Leon told the teams, not seeing any objections to his conclusion. "we'll need to get a small number of people to secure the path in locating and killing the guy."

"There is an aerial lift platform on the right side of the locked gate." Sho advised the teams. "However, I have confirmed the presence of armed villagers guarding the other platform."

"This shouldn't be a problem for me and my trusty sniper rifle." Kevin couldn't help but boast his sniping skills.

"I guess we have an idea on how we can handle this problem, huh?" Yu told Leon.

"Yeah. I guess we do."

* * *

><p>Adam Benford's Office, DSO Headquarters, somewhere in the United States of America<p>

* * *

><p>Adam had just been in contact with the White House, talking to the president on an update regarding Leon and Kevin's progress in securing Ashley when he had received a note from a secretary.<p>

**"I'll talk to you later Mr. President. Something important has come up."**

Adam replaced the phone back in the cradle when he read the note.

"Dammit." The glasses-wearing DSO officer murmured. "So the rumors are true after all..."

He got the phone back before the man made some calls.

**"Yes. Yes, it's me. Bad news." **Adam sighed and looked at the note. **"Get McGivern mobilized at once with some agents."**

The man frowned when he heard the reply from the other line.

**"We've confirmed a leak. And it's coming from the Secret Service."**

* * *

><p>Upper Aerial lift platform, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Leon and Kevin have arrived at the upper aerial lift platform alongside Jill, Jean, Hien and Dan. The plan the five agreed on called for Kevin to snipe at the villagers located at the lower aerial lift platform and at the platform cars. Leon would stay behind to help Kevin protect his rear.<p>

Once the four had secured a platform car to use, they will travel to the lower aerial lift platform. Two of them will stay to secure the lower platform while the other two would scout the area and locate anything they can secure, which also includes killing off Mendez since the letter Eriko translated from Spanish indicate the possibility of an eye as some sort of key.

"Okay, folks. I'll handle this." Kevin shouldered the Steyr SSG P IV and scoped out the villagers at the lower platform. "Alright. I've confirmed my targets."

"I'll be the spotter." Leon brought out his binoculars to scope out the platform as Kevin's spotter. "I'll tell you where to shoot."

"No problem. I'll start shooting from the obvious areas first." Kevin told Leon before he fired the suppressed sniper rifle at visible villagers overlooking the aerial lift platform.

"Taken down two villagers on top of the metal tower platforms." Kevin called out his shots before aiming the P IV at the incoming platform cars. "Incoming villager from an approaching platform car."

"Take the shot, Kevin."

"Acknowledged."

Kevin fired a suppressed 7.62 NATO bullet into the skull of the villager, watching him fall to his doom.

"Let's go." Jean told the other three, riding on a platform car standing up.

"Cover us!" Jill shouted to Kevin and Leon.

"On it!" Kevin shouted back to Jill. He continued to fire shot after shot to kill the villagers so that they won't be a hassle in attacking the four as they were nearing their approach on the lower platform.

"Let's just hope they can make it."

* * *

><p>Lower Aerial lift platform, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Jill, Jean, Hien and Dan were fast approaching the lower platform. So far, Kevin's sniping was covering for them.<p>

"Looks like Kevin hasn't slacked off his sniping skills." Jill commented, remembering how Kevin would show off his shooting skills to his colleagues back in the RPD.

"I got this covered." Jean told the Raccoon City survivor, aiming and firing his Franchi SPAS-12 to blast three villagers at an adjacent platform car. They would have hurled their hatchets at them, if it were not for Jean's intervention. They fell for their deaths as the platform car they rode in was over a canyon.

"Ce n'est rien." Jean said with a smirk on his face before he and the others disembarked.

"Game plan?" Hien asked as he took the lead in securing the lower platform with Jean beside him.

"We Spriggans will secure the lower platform." Jean told the masked Spriggan agent. "Dan and Ms. Valentine should be able to scout ahead and locate anything of significant use."

"Sure..." Dan said, having some doubt.

Jill didn't say anything, except that she drew out her sidearm.

"Then it's officially settled." Jean said out loud.

Hien went off inside the platform control room by hopping through the unused window frame to get inside. He subsequently raided the lockers to secure a box of 9mm ammo and a flashbang.

"Anything?" Jean asked Hien as he kicked the door in order to get out of the control room.

"Here." Hien replied to Jean. "I've got 9mm ammo and a flashbang."

"I can take them from your hands." Jill told Hien, taking the items from the Spriggan.

"Okay. Jean told Jill. "We'll handle things from here to secure the area. You guys better go ahead."

"Thanks." Jill told Jean after she pocketed the 9mm ammo box and the flashbang.

"We owe you one for this." Dan told the French Spriggan agent as he took the lead. Jill followed him as they went down the staircase.

* * *

><p>Residential Area, somewhere in Virginia Beach, Virginia, United States of America<p>

* * *

><p>A small convoy of 2004 Chevrolet Suburbans and Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptors arrived in a residential area, all in black finishes and have no traces of markings. This startled Virginia Beach police officers that have cordoned off a street block.<p>

"Hey! Hey! Hey!" An African-American VBPD officer began to approach the unknown convoy. "You can't be here! This block is closed to the public..."

"Sorry, officer." A blonde, slightly bearded man in his late 20s with a black shirt, pants and loafer shoes stepped out of the black CVPI's front passenger seat. "We do need to take over from here."

"Who are you with?" The officer challenged the blonde man.

"I'm with this agency, as my ID can show you." The blonde man showed his ID, identifying him as an official agent of the Division of Security Operations.

**Bruce McGivern**

**Division of Security Operations  
><strong>

"The Division of Security Operations?" The VBPD officer said after hearing McGivern's ID. "I honestly never heard of you guys."

"Let's just say that we handle the ultraserious stuff that's related to American national security." The blonde man told the officer. "Forgot to introduce myself. Bruce McGivern of the DSO." Bruce subsequently kept his ID after introducing himself.

"Officer Jack Bell, Virginia Beach Police Department." The African-American officer introduced himself to Bruce. "We've received a call that a Secret Service agent named Michael Lawrence was threatening his neighbors after being told that he was on leave for personal reasons."

"Personal reasons?" Bruce asked the officer.

Bruce shrugged. "We don't know. Apparently a mailman was trying to deliver some letters to the guy's house when gunshots rang out. He panicked and called 911." He pointed to the direction of the agent's house, which was only a couple of houses down from the VBPD roadblock.

"And civilians?"

"We've managed to evacuate them. Strangely enough, we didn't see any reporters aside from emergency services."

"Was the guy on anything?" Bruce asked him after signalling the other DSO officers to get ready.

"We don't know. We hope that we can take him alive."

Bruce smirked. "That's where we come in."

* * *

><p>Tunnel, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Jill and Dan had just went down the staircase when the former immediately spotted a tunnel with a path leading to it from the staircase landing the two were on.<p>

"Hey." Jill motioned to Dan to stop. "There's a tunnel here with a path from the staircase landing."

"Okay..." Dan was a bit hesitant.

"Could be something." Jill told Dan. "Besides, I'm familiar with this kind of thing."

"Sure, why not?" Dan shrugged. "I guess you can take the lead first."

Jill nodded, being the first to enter the tunnel. She noted a curve was at the end, requiring her to turn left. In addition, the area was illuminated by a bonfire torch post.

"Stay frosty." Dan told Jill as she prepared her Beretta Px4 Type F in a Weaver grip.

"Right." Jill replied, making the turn on the curve and opened fire on the first villager she saw, who was armed with a rusted sickle. The brown-haired woman kept her fire up until the sickle-armed villager was down for the count.

_Time to move in._

Dan moved in, aiming the 552 carbine at the other villager who was about to grab Jill with his arms. It seemed that he didn't have any kind of weapon or farming implement in his hands, but it was better to be safe than to be sorry and live to regret it.

"Jill! Stay clear!"

Jill heard Dan's shout and ducked as Dan fired the Swiss-made rifle to cut down the second villager down. The Malaysian kept moving in, firing the carbine until the villager melted. The first villager tried to get up, but Dan fired the carbine at the back of his head until it exploded.

"Looking good..." Dan murmured as he hopped over the sandbags.

"Thanks, Dan." Jill thanked the Malaysian SHADOW agent, hopping over the sandbags herself.

"Not a problem, Jill." Dan replied, kicking the nearby wooden barrel. "Ah, nuts. Nothing there."

"There's some money at least." Jill picked up a total of 2100 (Consisting of 1000 and 1100 pesetas) pesetas, found in bags collected from the spot where the dead villagers use to be.

"Ladder's up ahead." Dan pointed the ladder out to Jill. He began to sling the rifle on his back. "I'll go first."

"Right." Jill nodded to Dan, guarding his back as he started to climb the ladder as fast as possible.

* * *

><p>Dan was now at the top of the ladder, glad to see that the hallway up ahead is clear.<p>

"It's clear!"

He shouted at Jill, standing at the hallway before he heard something walking.

"What was that?"

Jill shouted back from down the ladder. A few seconds later, Dan saw a bearded villager coming towards him by walking slowly with a pitchfork.

"Ah, shi..." Dan was about to curse at himself when he shouldered his 552 carbine once more. "NEVER MIND!"

He opened fire with the carbine, advancing slowly as he watched 5.56 NATO bullets pierce the villager's body and legs. Eventually, he collapsed on the ground, back first.

"Is he dead?" Jill began to climb the ladder quickly after hearing gunshots.

* * *

><p>Residential Area, somewhere in Virginia Beach, Virginia, United States of America<p>

* * *

><p>Bruce and around six DSO agents were now in tactical assault gear, consisting of ballistic helmet, balaclava, vest, tactical gloves and boots as they began to converge towards a two-story residential house. Virginia Beach Police had cleared the way for them to do the assault. Thanks in part to the president's media gag order and to the status of DSO, Bruce was able to take control of the situation on behalf of the organization without any pesky reporters trying to get an assessment of the situation.<p>

"Seems good to be a DSO agent." Bruce murmured, having drawn out his Beretta 92FS pistol while having a tactical vest, outfitted with ballistic plates, at the insistence of his fellow DSO agents due to the possibility of being shot at by Agent Lawrence again in the neighborhood.

_I wish we did it covertly while we were still in DSO HQ. But beggars can't be choosers, I suppose.  
><em>

Bruce thought as they were almost near the house's main entrance. He motioned to the DSO tactical team to crouch and stay low to avoid being spotted.

"What's the plan?" One of the Colt M4A1-armed DSO agents asked Bruce after they were near the target's house.

"We go low and take him in alive." Bruce told the agent. "DSO needs to question him on whether he's the one responsible for what happened regarding the First Daughter's kidnapping. It's orders we need to comply with."

"Gotcha."

Bruce gestured to move to the side, leading to the house's backyard. The tactical team followed Bruce from the back, aiming their M4A1s at the direction of the house in case the rogue agent fired upon the DSO team.

Bruce then aimed his sidearm at the direction of the garden until he could determine that no one was there.

_Over there. _The DSO agent pointed to a door, which looked like it led to the house's dining area. The tactical team prepared to stack up near the door, awaiting for an all-clear to proceed further.

* * *

><p>Tunnel, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Jill had just climbed up the end of the ladder when she saw Dan next to a villager's corpse.<p>

Just before it began to dissolve.

"Oh. Hey there." Dan greeted Jill after he had shot down the villager a few minutes ago.

"Hey..." Jill raised an eyebrow before she continued. "yourself."

"Anything?"

"No..."

Dan pointed out some rock slab with blood on it with a banner on top.

"What's that?" Jill had gripped her sidearm with her right hand while her left hand touched the rock slab.

"Don't know." Dan replied. "Just found it myself."

"Blood looks to be dry." Jill tried to touch the blood found on the rock slab.

"I wonder if the cult used this area to execute any of their victims as sacrifices..." Dan suggested when he started to approach a treasure chest he saw nearby.

"Probably." Jill told the SHADOW agent. "I just don't want to think about that part right now."

Dan gripped the treasure chest's lid and opened it slowly, revealing a yellow catseye.

"Well what do we have here?" Dan picked up the yellow catsye. "A Yellow Cateye gem. Just like the others we got."

"What's that doing in there?" Jill asked, getting a good look at the gem.

"Beats me." Dan shrugged his shoulders. "But it's best to keep it. May be of good use later on."

"Let's just head back down." Jill reminded Dan. "We need to get back on the trail."

"Yeah..."

* * *

><p>Unknown Control Room<p>

* * *

><p>Wesker was informed by the computer AI, after returning back to the control room from a personal task, that the DSO had just been secretly mobilized to arrest a Secret Service agent who was formerly involved in the protection of Ashley Graham before her kidnapping by Jack Krauser.<p>

"A pity." Wesker said without any hint of remorse or sympathy. "The man had been useful for informing regarding the First Daughter's movements." He began to get back into his seat. "But now, the man must go..."

**"Shall I further inform the FBI about the agent's involvement with the kidnapping?"**

Wesker thought long and hard before he gave his reply.

**"Yes, please do. I need to start preparing to cut my losses."**

* * *

><p>Michael Lawrence residence, Residential Area, somewhere in Virginia Beach, Virginia, United States of America<p>

* * *

><p>A DSO tactical assaulter began to scan the interior of the house with a fiber optic camera to make sure the coast is clear.<p>

"Checking the area now." The assaulter told Bruce, scanning the dining room while checking the camera feed of the fiber optic camera. After a couple of minutes, the fiber optic camera was replaced.

"Anything inside?" Bruce asked the assaulter.

The assaulter replied to the blonde DSO agent. "It seems clear. But..."

"I always have a gut feeling that there's a but on the line..."

"I just thought I have someone walking past by the open hallway."

"Should we storm in and seize the suspect?" Another assaulter asked Bruce.

Bruce hesitated when he said no. "We can't. It could just make things worse..."

* * *

><p>Dirt Path, near Lower Aerial Platform, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Jill and Dan got back on track after successfully clearing out the tunnel, getting back to the staircase landing and going down the steps. The duo eventually arrived at the end, making a left turn and walking fast on the dirt path.<p>

"What the?" Dan was surprised to see the familiar blue torches up ahead.

"We just met the Merchant a while ago." Jill murmured as she began to approach the hooded man. "How did he get here so fast?"

"Welcome, strangahs!" The Merchant greeted Jill and Dan with much enthusiasm.

"Er... hi." Dan sighed before he waved hello to the Merchant.

"How did you get here?" Jill asked the Merchant, confused since she last saw him near the Upper aerial lift platform. "I mean, do you have some kind of superpower that you haven't told us about yet?"

The Merchant couldn't help, but chuckle at the woman's confusion. "Strangah, strangah..." He trailed off a bit before he explained to Jill. "Being present at multiple locations allows me to interact better with my customers."

"Okay..." Dan didn't know if he should buy the Merchant's explanation on why he was able to be everywhere.

"Now then..." The Merchant coughed before he opened his cloak to show his wares. "Is there anything you need to get today, strangah?"

* * *

><p>MOM's Office, The Center<p>

* * *

><p>"Something's going on!"<p>

Billy darted into the Center when MOM was busy playing chess with an alien. He looked like the typical grey humanoid alien, thinking on what his next move should be.

"Billy. Not now." MOM sighed and tried to wave him away. "I'm busy playing chess, in case you can't see."

"But MOM!" Billy shouted to get her attention. "It's with the DSO!"

MOM immediately stopped playing her chess game and told the humanoid that she needed to stop things for a while.

"What about them, Billy?" MOM went back to her table and got to work.

"Got word that the DSO launched a raid to secure a Secret Service agent suspected of providing information to the First Daughter's kidnappers." Billy told MOM, showing her a datapad on the details regarding Michael Lawrence.

"Seems to be a normal Secret Service agent." MOM frowned when she read his profile.

"But he had some money problems to pay for his brother's gambling addiction." Billy told MOM. "Of course, intelligence had to dig through a lot of records and ask their assets to figure that one out."

"Why do all the traitors always have to revolve around money?" MOM murmured, feeling frustrated with the latest case.

* * *

><p>Unknown Area<p>

* * *

><p>"Good news, kid."<p>

"What about it, Krauser?"

"Wesker just informed me that one of our assets has been turned loose."

"You mean..."

"Yep. The big guy's getting rid of him after the DSO's going for a raid to arrest him."

Krauser and Kenny were walking on a metal catwalk somewhere in a facility away from the village. Only the two of them were around since the others were busy either resting or just goofing off to do something about their boredom.

"But why now?" Kenny asked the ex-commando. "I thought Wesker would have gotten rid of any of the Secret Service contacts he got a hold of."

"Yeah I know." Krauser replied, shrugging his shoulders. "It's probably he decided to cut his ties with them just to be on the safe side."

"So what happens next?"

"We continue working with Saddler and hope he doesn't cut us or the other loose on his terms."

* * *

><p>Michael Lawrence residence, Residential Area, somewhere in Virginia Beach, Virginia, United States of America<p>

* * *

><p>Suddenly, Bruce and the DSO tactical team could hear some gunshots coming from the house. They didn't know if the gunshots were directed at the police officers stationed outside the house, but the DSO agent took the decision that it's time to take the man down before he could hurt somebody.<p>

"Go! Go! Go!" Bruce yelled to the team. A DSO assaulter got a battering ram and got the door opened up. Flashbangs and smoke grenades were then hurled into the house's interior, in the hope of incapacitating the suspect inside.

"Move in!" Bruce gave the order after the flashbangs exploded, waiting for the tactical team to conduct a dynamic entry. The blonde man followed the team after they got in the house, moving in from the dining room to the living room.

Lawrence was on the floor, coughing from the smoke when the tactical team forced him to lie down on the floor with his hands behind his back.

"Let me go! Let me go! They're here I tell ya!" Lawrence yelled while he struggled before a DSO assaulter cuffed him.

Bruce got a good look at the supposed Secret Service agent. He was a Caucasian with blonde hair in his late 30s with a clean shaven face, although it appeared that he didn't have enough time to sleep, which was seen by his eyes. In addition, the man was apprehended in his shirt and jogging pants.

"We got his weapon." A DSO assaulter showed Bruce a Ruger P85, which already has its magzine removed.

"Good work." Bruce told the team. "Let's get him back to HQ."

"But what about the police?" The assaulter asked when he collected the pistol as evidence.

"Big guy in the brass says he's taking care of that as we speak."

* * *

><p>Dirt Path, near Lower Aerial Platform, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"I'm not sure, actually." Jill told the Merchant. "Aside from grabbing these near you." She swiped the boxes of 9mm and 5.56 NATO ammo, handing the latter to Dan while keeping the box for herself.<p>

"Thanks!" Dan told Jill, who knelled down in order to reload his 556 carbine.

"You mean it, strangah?" The Merchant questioned Jill, who was reloading her Px4 Type F.

"Yeah." Jill told the Merchant. "Unless you got grenades with you."

"Perhaps I do." The Merchant mused over Jill's suggestion. "Give me a second..."

Dan continued to reload until he was fill a 30-round magazine into full capacity, putting it back onto the carbine. He then pulled the bolt to load a 5.56 NATO bullet and kept the 5.56 NATO ammo box for future use.

"You okay there?" Jill asked Dan after she heard a magazine being loaded onto his weapon.

"Yeah." Dan replied. "Anything from our friendly Merchant?"

"Not yet, I suppose..."

"Ah! Here we are!" The Merchant presented to Jill a box of incendiary grenades. "I think this may be just the thing you're looking for..."

"Incendiary grenades." Jill was amazed to see how the Merchant was able to obtain such grenades. "I'm, honestly, quite amazed that you're able to procure these."

"I'm an arms dealer, my dear strangah." The Merchant told Jill, not trying to boast about his "accomplishments". "And I can't tell you how I do it because... well, I don't want to let my competitors know."

Jill simply nodded, wondering how she should respond.

"Are those incendiary grenades?" Dan asked the Merchant after he finished reloading, checking them out to see if their condition. "These can come in handy when we burn the skin of those damn villagers."

"I can sell them to ya for a 1000 pesetas, strangah." The Merchant told Dan, showing him the box that held sixteen incendiary grenades.

If Jill and Dan can evenly divide them, they can hold eight incendiary grenades each.

* * *

><p>Adam Benford's Office, DSO Headquarters, somewhere in the United States of America<p>

* * *

><p>Adam had received a call from his office, minutes after he gave the order to dispatch Bruce in arresting a suspected Secret Service agent gone rogue for immediate questioning.<p>

**"Yes?" **Adam picked up the phone, listening carefully to the caller. **"Yes?"**

Adam nodded carefully, listening again to the caller before he said. **"Good. Have the suspect brought to the interrogation center at once. We need to know who hired him and if anyone else was paid to turn rogue. Understood?"**

* * *

><p>Dirt Path, near Lower Aerial Platform, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>After Jill paid up the Merchant and subsequently divided up the incendiary grenades between her and Dan, the former thanked the hooded man before the duo continued their trek to locate anything of important value they can take back to their comrades.<p>

"Look." Jill pointed to a metal gate up ahead.

"A metal gate." Dan aimed the 552 carbine at it before he slinged his weapon, going forward to check if the gate can be opened.

"Well?" Jill guarded Dan's rear while the Malaysian was checking the area.

"It's clear." Dan told Jill. "It can be opened too. Shouldn't be a problem."

"All right." Jill stood near Dan's back. Dan began to open the gate up, which opened inward. "Do me a favor and watch my six, yeah?" He drew out a Heckler & Koch USP Expert, chambered in 9mm Parabellum ammunition, with his free hand. It was aimed in front of him, using it as his means of self-defense in case a villager or two would show up while opening the gate.

"We're good." Dan told Jill, holstering his USP Expert on the right leg holster. "Nothing seems to be waiting for us." Then there was a beat for a few seconds. "Except for a spooky looking barn."

"Okay." Jill then said to Dan. "You take the lead, Dan. I'll cover you."

"Sounds like a plan."

Dan took the lead and entered after the gate was opened. Jill stepped a few feet backwards, covering for Dan. Ensuring that her grip on her sidearm was as tight as possible, she began to run towards the barn.

* * *

><p>Outskirts of Barn, near Lower Aerial Platform, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"Spooky looking barn there."<p>

"Reminds me of the Arklay Mansion."

Jill and Dan approached the barn with their weapons drawn at it. They didn't leave anything to chance, especially since they were still in hostile territory.

"Looks okay..." Jill murmured. She told Dan. "Keep your guard up."

"Right." Dan nodded, who had his 552 carbine at the ready. "This reminds me of my black ops assignment or two in Japan a few years ago."

Jill couldn't help, but ask the SHADOW agent. "SHADOWs do black ops for the Center?"

"Yeah they do." Dan replied after he stacked up near the barn doors. "That's mostly the reason why the division exists."

"Never got to ask that specifically aside from knowing what it means." Jill shrugged, moving close to stand near Dan.

"That and we act as armed support for the other agents like Martin and Diana."

"By the way," Jill did a brass check on her Px4 Type F to ensure a bullet was in the chamber. "What kind of black ops work did you SHADOW guys do?"

"I'm not sure if I'm willing to talk about it." Dan replied, checking the barn door handle to see if it was safe to handle.

"Gag order?" Jill asked him.

Dan slowly nodded. "Yeah. And we'll be in trouble if we blab our mouths out to the public, even to a fellow Center agent like you."

"I won't ask if that extends to your fellow SHADOWs."

"That would depend on the circumstances at hand."

When Dan noted that the barn door handle can be used, he slowly opened the barn door inward.

"Okay. We can get in."

After Dan completely got the barn door open, Jill took the lead in exploring the barn's interior. Dan covered her back before going with her inside.

* * *

><p>Barn, near Lower Aerial Platform, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Jill saw on the ground that they were shotgun shell brass. All of them were scattered throughout the floor.<p>

"Someone surely made a fuss around here." The ex-STARS operative commented after she picked up an empty shotgun shell brass to give a visual inspection. "And it looks like a shotgun was fired in this place not too recent."

"The only question is who did all of this then?" Dan popped the question.

Before Jill could give Dan the answer, she glanced at her side and saw someone was standing near Dan.

"DAN! BEHIND YOU!"

"HOLY SHI-!" Dan was about to confront the enemy when the mysterious individual grabbed him by the throat.

"Aacckk..." Dan tried to say something, only for the "person" to squeeze his throat even harder.

"It's him!" Jill shouted, aiming her Px4 Type F at Bitores Mendez. "It's the chief!"

Bitores could only glare at Jill, saying nothing before looking back at his captive held on his hand.

* * *

><p>Lower Aerial lift platform, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"You think those guys are gonna be okay?"<p>

Hien asked Jean as the Spriggans stood guard in the area, taking a seat on a crate.

"Sure they will." Jean shrugged his shoulders. "I mean, there's an elite agent from the Center's supposed black ops division and a survivor of the Raccoon City incidents concerning the Umbrella Corporation. How hard can it be for the two of them?"

* * *

><p>Barn, near Lower Aerial Platform, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Bitores threw Dan into an upper wooden beam support, nearly knocking the SHADOW agent out cold.<p>

"Dammit..." Dan coughed, trying to not get unconscious. "How's that guy damn strong to hurl me like some kinda baseball?"

Bitores tried to shove his hand forcefully at the downed agent's chest, only for Jill to fire her pistol at him. This forced him to stop while looking at his chest to see where he was shot at.

Jill eyed the nearest fuel barrel and shoved it down the ground, watching fuel flow out of the barrel and towards the chief.

"Come on, Dan." The brown-haired woman went out of her way to pull Dan up to his feet while she fired her sidearm with one hand, aiming at the fuel. She watched it go up in flames, slowly burning Bitores up and destroying one of the barrels. Thankfully, Dan had gotten up before Jill told him to dive backwards since the barrel exploded near them.

"That's the last time I'm falling down..." Dan muttered to Jill. This time, he was able to get up properly without any assistance.

"Did I get him?" Jill murmured, aiming the pistol at the flames where Bitores was suppose to be.

* * *

><p>Upper Aerial lift platform, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"Looks damn quiet from there." Kevin told Leon, scoping the lower aerial platform.<p>

"And things are quiet here too." Leon sighed, checking his Silver Ghost via brass check since he did not use the pistol that much aside from the Remington 870, which the ex-SPF officer uses as his main weapon.

"Well what can you say?" Kevin said, still looking through the SSG P IV. "Stay committed to your decisions, but stay flexible in your approach."

Leon stared at his Kevin after hearing what the DSO agent had said. "And who said that?"

"Some guy named Anthony Robbins, if I got the name right."

* * *

><p>Barn, near Lower Aerial Platform, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"What the... hell?"<p>

Jill was seriously dead wrong when she fired her pistol at the liquid fuel to detonate the fuel barrel. In fact, she was beginning to see another side of Bitores that one would call it _hideous_.

"What's with that guy?" Dan was stunned to see that Bitores had assumed a different form. He and Jill saw that the bald man was not anything but abnormal. Instead, Bitores' torso was ripped out from the pelvis. His spinal cord was also exposed to the elements, as well as fingernails growing very long that they looked like claws. Four limbs grew out of Bitores' back.

"It seems he was experimented on by the cult." Jill told Dan, stepping way back to avoid being impaled by the limbs or by the claws.

"Dammit." Dan too stepped a few feet backwards, aiming his 552 carbine at the mutated Bitores. "Now this just makes things a lot hard."

As Bitores advanced towards the two armed individuals with the barn partially on fire thanks to the fuel barrel Jill had destroyed, Jill and Dan were now running out of options except to move back away from him.

_A ladder._

"Dan. Do me a favor and distract him." Jill told Dan before she was about to climb the ladder.

"What are you going to do?"

"Just trust me on this, okay?"

Dan sighed. It looks like that this was probably one of the few ways they can do to subdue Bitores.

"All right. Just hurry."

As Jill began to climb the ladder, Dan primed one of the incendiary grenades and hurled it towards Bitores. In response, the creatures howled in pain with the flames licking his mutated body.

* * *

><p><em>Good work, Dan. Just hold out for a little longer.<em>

After Jill had climbed up, she ran towards the direction of the barn entrance while picking up a frag grenade and a box of 9mm Parabellum ammo on the way.

She heard an incendiary grenade detonate while approaching the ladder leading to the ground.

_Perfect._

Jill hopped down the ladder and positioned herself near the entrance, which was now impassable since Bitores used his strength to twist the door handles together so that no one can come in or come out alive.

"Looks like the bastard was crazy prepared for this."

Jill raised her Px4 Type F, aiming the iron sights at the spinal cord before Bitores could even get near Dan. After confirming her target, the woman fired a few shots at the spinal cord.

* * *

><p>Dual Dirt Paths, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"Hey." Ashley went to ask Hiryu, who was bored after Jill and Dan left to secure anything that they can use to get out of the village.<p>

"Hm?" Hiryu noted that Ashley was looking at him. "Can I help you?"

"Do you think those two will be alright?"

"I'm sure they will. We've got the best people working for the Center. Not to mention the best people I've worked with."

Fujino tried to raise Dan via O-Watch. So far, all that she was receiving was nothing.

"Something wrong?" Diana asked Fujino when she frowned.

"It is nothing, Diana-san." The purple-haired girl told Diana.

"I'm sure Dan's gonna be alright." Martin told the Japanese SHADOW agent. "I mean, he is a SHADOW after all."

"How long have they been gone now?" Yu asked around, having his Heckler & Koch G3A3 slinged on his neck.

"Don't know." Hiryu told the Japanese Spriggan as he checked his O-Watch. "It's going to be an hour in a few more minutes."

* * *

><p>Barn, near Lower Aerial Platform, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Jill confirmed that shooting Bitores' exposed spinal cord was working. He had her undivided attention as he began to advance towards her.<p>

"Take this!" She hurled an incendiary grenade towards him, watching the creature burn. The woman later heard the sounds of Dan's 552 carbine being fired at Bitores' spinal cord from the back. The gunfire stopped for a few minutes when she saw Dan pop an incendiary grenade towards him.

_Might as well. _Jill removed the safety pin of her second incendiary grenade and hurled it towards the creature. The flames burned Bitores, which weakened him. However, Bitores was determined to kill them in the name of Los Illuminados.

"Ah, dammit..." Bitores once advance towards Jill after she fired at his spinal cord, using his claws to attack her by executing horizontal slashes.

"Whoa!" Jill ducked down just in time to avoid a slash to her chest.

"YAAAHHHH!" Dan shouted, firing his 552 carbine at Bitores' spinal cord. "Come on, you!"

This attack goaded Bitores to come at Dan, who quickly climbed up the ladder. He began to reload while Bitores was near the ladder Dan used a while ago.

_What's he going to do next?_

* * *

><p>Dan waited patiently for Bitores to position himself near another fuel barrel he spotted when he saw Jill previously climb up the ladder before him.<p>

"Just a little more." Dan aimed the newly reloaded 552 carbine at the fuel barrel and fired it, watching the barrel explode.

"YES!" The Malaysian SHADOW agent pumped his fist in the air, watching the spinal cord disconnect from the pelvis with a loud snapping sound.

"That sounds kinda gross." Dan commented after seeing what had happened in front of him. The legs began to walk on its own for a short period of time before they collapsed, falling on its knees before they gave up.

_That so did no happen..._

Dan couldn't believe that Bitores was still alive, this time using two of his limbs to attach onto the upper wooden beams to give himself some mobility support.

* * *

><p>Interrogation Room, DSO Headquarters, somewhere in the United States of America<p>

* * *

><p>Adam had just entered the interrogation room, greeted by Bruce as he was about to start the interrogation.<p>

"I'll handle this one." Adam told Bruce, gesturing to him to move out of the seat.

"Oh. All right, if you insist sir." Bruce sighed, allowing the veteran DSO officer to sit down and face the handcuffed suspect.

"You know why you're here, Agent Michael Lawrence." Adam started the interrogation, looking at the handcuffed man. Lawrence did not say anything after he told the DSO agent that he would insist on his right to stay silent as granted by the Miranda Rights.

"I also know that you were responsible for giving out information to a known bioterrorist, which led to the death of five Secret Service agents assigned to protect the First Daughter."

For added emphasis, Adam showed photos that depicted the dead agents. Out of the five corpses, two were Caucasian and two of them were Southeast Asian with being African-American.

Bruce, who was leaning on the wall with his arms crossed over his chest, observed the suspect carefully. The blonde man checked his body language for anything that can help in the investigation. He could have sworn that the suspect was about to say something to defend himself. Bruce shrugged it off as part of his imagination.

"Do you..." Adam began to glare at the suspect. "not care that your fellow agents were killed in the line of duty, all because of you conspiring with a terrorist?"

Lawrence kept his silence.

The glasses-wearing man banged his clenched fist on the desk and shouted at the suspect.

"ANSWER ME!"

* * *

><p>Barn, near Lower Aerial Platform, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"I'm not liking this..."<p>

Jill sighed, firing her Px4 Type F at Bitores' torso in order to get his attention. So far, it was working. Bitores began to advance towards her. However, Dan landed on the ground and took advantage of this by shooting at him from the back. Some of the shots struck Bitores' limbs that it forced him to collapse on the ground.

"Stay back, Dan!" Jill yelled, pulling the safety pin of the frag grenade she found and tossed it to the downed Bitores. When it exploded, Bitores howled out in pain from the shrapnel that pierced his torso. But thanks to the experimentation done to the chief, the wounds were healed in no time.

Dan responded by firing the 552 carbine at the downed Bitores before he could get his limbs attached onto the upper wooden beams.

"We need to keep moving, Jill!" Dan shouted, firing again at Bitores a few seconds after he got himself attached onto the upper wooden beams. "Dammit... Some of my shots missed..."

"He's not the only one..." Jill muttered, stopping to reload her sidearm.

As Bitores advanced towards Dan, the creature tried to take a jab by using on its limb to stab him in the chest. Dan was quick to dodge, almost at the last second. Otherwise, he would have been severely wounded.

"Stay back!" He drew out his Eickhorn-Solingen KM2000 and charged at Bitores. The creature was on the defensive, trying to have another go at Dan by stabbing him. The SHADOW agent dodged it and instead, some of his hair was slashed by the limb.

_That was close. Any more to the right and I'm history._

The black-haired teen was at close quarters to Bitores, stabbing and slashing one of the limbs. Bitores wailed in pain, moving back to avoid being attacked. He was quick to get the painful limb back in control.

"Nice one!" Jill shouted her compliments to Dan. She then fired her sidearm at Bitores' back several times before doing a roundhouse kick. But this did not make the chief fall down.

"Hah!" Dan executed a strong front kick at Bitores after doing a knife stab at another one of his limbs. This didn't make Bitores fall either, but it almost did. Instead, it earned his wrath when he tried to decapitate him. Instead, Dan's 552 carbine earned Bitores' wrath when the weapon was cut in half, divided between between the barrel and most of the receiver.

"Dammit, how much longer?" Jill said in frustration after she emptied her magazine at the creature. As a result, Bitores fell down on the ground.

"NOW!" Jill and Dan tossed in as much incendiary grenades as possible until they could hear Bitores yelling very loud in pain.

The duo seized their activities to see Bitores crawling in pain, coughing blood while giving out one final scream before he collapsed.

"Is... is he dead?" Dan murmured, dropping his slashed rifle and drew out his USP Expert. He observed Bitores' face and saw something fell out.

"What is it?" Jill asked Dan as he holstered his sidearm.

"We got this." Dan showed Jill the false eye.

"Uh huh." Jill nodded. "And some gold bars near his corpse again. Again, this baffles the mind."

"I'll go and secure what we can from this barn." Dan told Jill, collecting the discarded 30-round magazine and the Aimpoint red dot sight since the 552 carbine was of no use to him any longer. He chose to leave the sling attached, considering it expendable.

"All right. But you better hurry." Jill spoke to Dan, seeing the flames beginning to burn half of the barn. "Of else we're going to be cooked in here alive."

* * *

><p>Interrogation Room, DSO Headquarters, somewhere in the United States of America<p>

* * *

><p>Bruce could only watch Adam shout and yell at the suspect once more, telling him that he's a bastard for selling out the Secret Service to whoever hired him out regarding Ashley Graham's Secret Service team.<p>

_I'm beginning to feel sorry for the suspect now._ He then eyed the handcuffed man. _He should be wetting his pants soon..._

He saw that the suspect was starting to speak.

"This is new." Bruce murmured, seeing the suspect speaking after being shouted at for a few hours now while he had previously kept his silence.

"Some guy contacted me a few weeks prior to my sick leave from duty." Lawrence replied, a bit shaky. "He said he could help pay off the money I used to pay for my brother, who had a huge gambling debt at the time."

"And this person had a name?" Adam asked the suspect, waiting for an answer.

"No."

"No?"

"No. As in the person's name was not told." Lawrence felt panicky when he said that. "I mean, he knows that my brother had a frickin' gambling problem to begin with in the first place!"

Bruce sighed, massaging his temples.

_Now I feel sorry for the guy._

* * *

><p>Barn, near Lower Aerial Platform, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"Anything?"<p>

Jill collected all the gold bars she could handle. She was worried that it could be heavy.

"Yeah." Dan told Jill. "Red, Yellow and Green herbs, a box of 9mm ammo, buckshot shells and 7.62 NATO subsonic ammo for starters."

"That should be good. Let's go."

The two found a big hole on the side, enough for the both of them to leap outside before the barn could burn completely.

"JUMP!" Jill shouted, taking the lead in leaping through the hole. Dan followed behind, jumping just in time to avoid being hit by a wooden beam that had just collapsed from above.

* * *

><p>Outskirts of Barn, near Lower Aerial Platform, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"Coast is clear."<p>

Jill aimed her sidearm at the area up ahead with her sidearm.

"Looks likes we're not going to expect opposition." Dan drew out his USP Expert since he has no carbine to use. "Let's go."

* * *

><p>Lower Aerial lift platform, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Jean yawned while making his rounds around the lower aerial lift platform, feeling bored that there wasn't any action around the place.<p>

"Feeling bored already?" Hien asked the French Spriggan.

"Could be." Jean replied after he finished yawning. "Or it could be that I just haven't slept for a day now."

"Yeah, I know how you feel, Jean." Hien said while checking the control room to make sure no one was inside through the window. "But we need to wait for Jill and Dan to return."

"Yes, and I'd like to know if they're able to get something significant for us to get past through that blasted gate back up there." Jean said, pointing to the direction of the upper aerial platform with his right gloved thumb.

"Then I'm afraid it won't be necessary."

Jean and Hien saw Jill and Dan had already returned from their encounter with Bitores.

"You guys made it!" Hien greeted the two.

"Come on." Jill told Hien. "We need to go and see the others."

"Is something the matter?" Jean asked the ex-STARS agent.

"Not really." Dan shook his head. "We found something useful that can help us pass the gate up ahead."

"All right then." Jean replied. "Let's go board a platform first..."

* * *

><p>Upper Aerial lift platform, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"Looks like they all made it." Kevin told Leon, lowering his SSG P IV after seeing a lift platform with Jean, Jill, Dan and Hien on board together.<p>

"I'll go and gather the others with the Merchant." Leon told Kevin, patting his right shoulder. "You... stay here and go meet with them."

"Yeah, yeah." Kevin replied, gesturing to Leon to move on and get the others. "I can handle this part. Don't worry."

The brown-haired DSO agent slinged his sniper rifle on his back, waiting for the platform to arrive at the upper aerial lift platform.

"You guys surely took your time." Kevin greeted the four. "Anything down there?"

"There is." Jean told Kevin. "We have to get back to the others first."

"I guess that there is something significant that you guys found down there." Kevin said as he walked alongside the four, going back to see the others in order to regroup.

"Well..." Jill began to trail off a bit before she continued. "Dan and I have found something that should knock your socks off."

"This I can't wait to see."

* * *

><p>Dual Dirt Paths, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>With the teams reunited once again with the Merchant, Jill and Dan talked to them about fighting against Bitores Mendez and how they fought against his mutated self.<p>

"Quite the fight, I take it?" Martin questioned Dan, who was excited by his narration on what he and Jill came up against.

"Yeah, no kidding." Dan replied, feeling a bit tired from the fight.

"So what did you get?" Cammy asked the SHADOW agent. "Does it have to do with accessing the gate up ahead."

"Yes, it does." Jill told the Delta Red agent. "Show them the _key_, Dan."

"Right, Jill. Give me a second." Dan went through his tactical vest until he said. "Ah, there it is."

_Just what did he find? _

Eriko was curious to see what kind of _key_ Dan had that they can use to unlock the gate.

"Here it is."

Dan opened his clenched right hand to present to the teams the false eye that came from Bitores' corpse.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the false left eye of Bitores Mendez."

Chapter 11 END

* * *

><p>PS - Chapter 11's up for reading, ladies and gentlemen. Let me know the chapter went, folks. As usual, I appreciate reviewscomments/criticisms/corrections.

A few months and RE 6's coming. Can't wait to get my hands on this. 'Cept there's the thing with the DLC content. I don't know if I want to wait for another RE 6 edition with the DLC included or not. Only time will tell.

Well, I am planning to get SOCOM 4 for the PS3 'cause of the story. If and when I can put money aside, I probably will get the NA, JP and UK versions just to hear/listen to the differences aside from the fact that the NA/JP versions have the differences in language used in the game, but they use Navy SEALs.

I am aware that the SHADOW agents don't talk about their black ops nature. Well it's obviously cause they aren't suppose to with orders from MOM and the top Center hierarchy unless they want to risk being in trouble for spilling the beans. But maybe perhaps with some prodding from the good guys, they can tell.

As of this upload, one person (You know who you are) has placed this story in the favorites and four persons in the alerts. I think "Peacekeepers" is a lot more popular than this story these days, considering it's a Gundam story after all. Regardless, I would like to thank the readers and reviewers for reading/reviewing and commenting on how the story is going. I really appreciate it.


	12. Looming Castle

Resident Evil/Biohazard: Hostage Rescue

Rating: T

NOTE:

All characters of Resident Evil/Captain Commando/Street Fighter are under the copyright of Capcom. All characters of Martin Mystery are under the copyright of Marathon. All characters of Kara no Kyokai are under the copyright of TYPE-MOON. All characters of Spriggan are under the copyright of Hiroshi Takashige and Ryoji Minagawa. All characters of Jiraishin are under the copyright of Tsutomu Takahashi. The appearance of Kenneth "Kenny" Feng is under noctorro's jurisdiction. All others are under my jurisdiction.

Summary:

Dan and Jill were able to secure Bitores Mendez' false eye after the two engaged him in a cramped barn, allowing them to leave the outskirts of El Pueblo. Meanwhile, the DSO has picked up a Secret Service agent in Virginia Beach, who is currently being suspected of betraying his colleagues by providing information to Wesker in order to facilitate the kidnapping of the First Daughter and bring her to Spain under Krauser's instructions. Will they be able to learn more about the details behind the kidnapping? What will the teams encounter after leaving El Pueblo? Stay tune to this chapter to find out.

Chapter 12: Looming Castle

* * *

><p>Dual Dirt Paths, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Dan's presentation of the fake eye wasn't a welcoming sight for Ashley and Diana. The Malaysian SHADOW agent sighed, wondering if all Western girls were all like that when they freaked out, saying things like "Why he's holding a gross thing?" and "Why does Dan have such a thing when he should have gotten rid of it minutes ago?"<p>

"Cut it, you two?" Martin sighed after seeing his stepsister freak out. "Be grateful Dan was able to get this?"

"Great work, Dan." Hiryu thanked Dan for getting the eye. "Now we'll be able to leave this place." He eyed Tea, who had already placed the catseye Dan and Jill obtained to sell the Beerstein, the Elegant Mask with the Red, Green and Purple gems included and anything else worth of value, including the gold bars from Bitores' corpse.

"So I noticed that you don't have your weapon, Dan..." Chun-Li eyed Dan carefully, knowing for sure that he was just armed with a pistol and a combat knife.

"Yeah." Dan replied, sighing as he was not sure if there was time to explain himself. "You see, it's a long story..."

"Come on then..." Tea approached Dan. "I've sold what we can to the Merchant. We've got around 43 to 44,000 pesetas with us."

Leon whistled when he heard the amount from the British Spriggan. "So much money."

"I know, right?" Kevin smirked at his DSO comrade. "We can buy a lot of things with that kind of money."

"Assuming that they can be converted still to American dollars or to any other kind of currency out there." Eriko reminded Kevin about the pesetas. "Do remember that it's not being recognized anymore since Spain adopted the Euro years ago."

"Oh yeah." Kevin sighed and facepalmed. "I nearly forgotten about that."

"I've been told by the strangah here that you lost your weapon fighting against Mendez." The Merchant approached Dan from the side. The latter didn't pay attention as he was listening to other people talking about the eye he got. Well, and about other things too.

"You got something else for me." Dan decided to keep the fake eye for the meantime in an empty pocket on his tactical vest.

"Sure I do, strangah." The Merchant chuckled with much enthusiasm as he placed his wooden backpack down to get something from it. "Give me a second here."

Dan wondered what the Merchant could possibly offer him.

* * *

><p>MOM's Office, The Center<p>

* * *

><p>Billy handed a datapad to MOM after he returned back from the SID office, being updated of news that the DSO had arrested a suspect in the kidnapping of Ashley Graham.<p>

"So this is the man the DSO arrested?" MOM read over the data regarding the arrested Secret Service agent.

"Yes, that's him." Billy replied. "The data SID collected mentioned the reason why Agent Lawrence betrayed his fellow agents."

"I don't know whether I should pity him or not, considering his actions led to the deaths of a few Secret Service agents protecting the First Daughter."

Billy was careful that he decided not to say anything since he doesn't want to get into a debate with MOM for no reason at all.

"Is there anything else that you need from the SID at the moment, MOM?"

"No. For the meantime, instruct them to keep an eye out for Wesker or any of his associates."

"Understood."

* * *

><p>Adam Benford's Office, DSO Headquarters, somewhere in the United States of America<p>

* * *

><p>Adam had just returned to his office after giving instructions to Bruce to keep the suspect locked up in a detention cell. The suspect had provided enough information to go by, which was the actions of Wesker's that resulted in the kidnapping the deployment of DSO agents Kennedy and Ryman into Spanish soil to work with the Guardia Civil.<p>

The glasses-wearing senior heard his phone ringing, making him pick up the handle.

**"Senior Agent Benford's Office." **Adam was the first to pick it up, making him respond first. **"The president?" **He then replied to the other line. **"Tell the president that my agents ****are on the ground and they need more time to get cured of whatever they're infected with."**

Adam heard a knock on the door, saying "Come in!" before he resumed his phone call.

**"I'm glad President Graham's agreeing to listen to my reasons, but not most of the National Security Council?"**

Hunnigan had entered, seeing her superior was still on the line.

**"Tell them that they can't risk making me hurry the hell up. They'll jeopardize things on the ground."**

Adam sighed before he replaced the phone handle back down on the cradle.

_This'll be the death of me._

* * *

><p>Dual Dirt Paths, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"I'm sure you can appreciate this, strangah."<p>

Dan was given an unused Sig SG 552 commando with a picatinny railing on the upper receiver and an empty magazine well.

"It's been paid by her, strangah." The Merchant pointed Tea out to him after Dan accepted the assault carbine. "So there's nothing else."

"Is this new?" Dan asked the Merchant as he loaded a 30-round magazine and placed the Aimpoint scope on the picatinny railing.

"I can assure you that it's 100% new." The Merchant replied to Dan's question.

"Then I guess I should thank you." Dan said, shaking hands with the Merchant.

"Always a pleasure to do business."

"Let's go, then." Jean then said to everyone else, porting his Franchi SPAS-12. "We need to leave this place."

"Agreed." Yu shared Jean's sentiment.

The teams moved out, leaving the Merchant as they walked towards the double doors leading out of the outskirts of El Pueblo.

* * *

><p>In front of Double Doors, Left Dirt Path, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"Here goes nothing."<p>

Dan took the false eye into his hand while he motioned to everyone else with a gun to cover his back. He placed the false eye in front of the red eye area on the double doors, which led to a visible laser touching the eye.

"Hope this works."

A few minutes, there was a slight beeping sound with the audible clicking sound that came afterwards.

"Is it open?" Sho asked the SHADOW agent.

"I think so." Dan told the ninja.

"Java, give me a hand." Hiryu slinged his Heckler & Koch G36C.

Java nodded, moving towards the double doors as the caveman and the masked SHADOW agent pushed the doors forwards, getting them to open up.

"Nice." Kevin gave a whistle. "Let's get going then."

* * *

><p>Dirt Path, near outskirts of Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"Hold up a second."<p>

Kevin was the first to move up ahead on the dirt path when he motioned to his allies to stop. Leon immediately moved Ashley behind him in case on an upcoming firefight.

"What is it?" Jill asked Kevin when he was shouldering his Steyr SSG P IV.

"I spot a few villagers." Kevin told the ex-STARS officer as he scoped out the villagers up ahead. "Tell the others to wait."

"Gotcha." Jill went back to the others, informing them that Kevin had spotted some villagers. This gave Kevin some space in sniping the villagers to clear a path for them.

"Bet you can't hear where this shot's coming from eh?" Kevin began to taunt the villagers when he whispered, firing the silenced sniper rifle to take down four villagers in the head. All of their heads exploded, making Kevin why the heck it happens.

Kevin gestured to the others that it's clear, but he needed someone to help him out.

Sho approached Kevin, ready to draw out his ninjato should the DSO agent need backup.

"Thanks." Kevin told the ninja commando, slowly moving the path until he could hear the engine of a truck starting.

"I'm not liking this." Kevin muttered, scoping out the truck up ahead. When he saw the truck already moving down the path towards him, the ex-SPD officer began to shoot at the driver.

"Dammit!" He noted that a couple of his shots struck the driver at his left shoulder and chest, but it was not enough for him to stop. "Even if I reload fast, I may not be able to get a headshot!"

Sho charged in, running fast until he was at jumping distance to the incoming truck. He leaped on top of the truck cab and stabbed the driver at this forehead, killing the villager.

"Hah!" Sho did a double jump away from the truck, watching it crash by tumbling down on the side.

Leon took the lead, aiming his Remington 870 at the truck's rear in case of any villagers were inside. True enough, five of them came out. He worked with Jean in firing 12 gauge buckshots into them until they died. They left a Velvet Blue and 1300 pesetas.

"How awfully generous of them." Tea grinned before she picked up the Velvet Blue and the pesetas.

The teams continued their ascent upwards, only stopping to pick up 1000 pesetas and a frag grenade. Yu gladly took the frag grenade for himself.

"Hold it." Hien motioned to the teams to stop, checking the truck bed to see 5500 pesetas in a sack. He took it and passed it to Yu, who passed it to Tea.

_I wonder what's up ahead?_

* * *

><p>Dirt Path, outskirts of Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>The teams arrived on top of the hill to see a medieval castle up ahead when they began to look around.<p>

"A castle?" Leon said out loud. "I wasn't expecting to see this."

"Who owns that place?" Cammy asked around, not expecting to see such a castle.

"It must belong to a noble family." Eriko suggested to the Delta Red operative.

"Fujino." Hiryu faced the purple-haired teenager, who nodded after hearing his command.

"Hai." Fujino went to use her O-Watch, getting to use the communicator to make contact with the Center. **"Requesting SID assistance on a castle up ahead. Uploading current coordinates."**

A hologram of the Center's shield and winged star with an eye, which was its logo, appeared first as a holographic image after its hologram viewer began to load up. A few minutes later, it showed the image of the entire castle's exterior.

"According to the readouts..." Eriko ran her free hand to read a holographic file on the castle. "The castle belongs to the Salazar family. SID intelligence indicate that the current head of the family is a Ramon Salazar. His birth year is estimated to be in 1984."

"Is he still alive?" Chun-Li asked the Japanese SHADOW agent.

"I have no further information on that, Chun-Li-san."

"Looks like we get to go into someone's residence without even knowing if he's a bad guy." Leon sighed, reloading his shotgun in the process. "Now we really need to be on our toes."

Martin and Java began to break down a few wooden barrels the former found around the area, snagging another Velvet Blue, a Green Herb and 1000 pesetas. Martin handed the valuables to Tea while he kept the Green Herb since the group doesn't have much herb supplies except with one Green/Red/Yellow Mixture and a few Greens.

"I think we'll be okay." Ashley told the teams in order to put them at ease.

"I hope so." Diana told the First Daughter.

Java pointed the path leading to the Salazar Castle. "Path look clear."

As the teams walked down the path towards the castle, they could hear some people shuffling their feet from behind.

"What now?" Kevin groaned, fearing more trouble.

"Incoming!" Yu shouted after he turned around, aiming his Heckler & Koch G3A3 assault rifle at the incoming villagers. They were all brandishing lit torches.

"Go on ahead!" Hiryu got prone and fired his G36C at full auto. Yu did the same likewise.

"Come on!" Yu fired his G3A3, watching two of the villagers go down after being shot several times by 7.62 NATO bullets.

Leon and Kevin guided the others, including Ashley, towards the Salazar Castle.

"Take this!" Yu removed the pin of the frag grenade and hurled it towards the villagers. He motioned to Hiryu to get flat to prevent themselves from being injured by shrapnel as the frag grenade exploded.

* * *

><p>Some Ledge, somewhere in Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Unknown to the teams, Ada had made great progress that she was in the castle premises when she saw someone firing assault rifles at some torch-wielding villagers.<p>

"So the gang's all here?" Ada couldn't help, but smirk watching Leon and Kevin take charge running across the drawbridge. She caught of Yu and Hiryu firing at the villagers to keep them at bay, only for one of them to stop when they need to reload.

The Chinese-American then saw something she didn't expect to see.

Getting the binoculars out, Ada watched Tea made her approach to the villagers that Yu and Hiryu stopped firing for fear of hitting her. She didn't see the British woman's face, but Ada saw Tea take something out from her coat.

"What is that woman doing?" Ada was baffled to see Tea drop something onto the ground in front of her. But the next thing she saw both surprised and frightened her at the same time.

By the time the cloth dropped onto the ground, it turned into a couple of lion-like specters with angel wings. They charged towards the villagers, scaring off the surviving villagers to retreat. One of them got burned to death when he tripped, his torch falling on his back after he fell down.

"So, she's very interesting." Ada murmured after she saw Tea move back to the castle's drawbridge. "It'll be interesting if Wesker knows that a mystic's fighting for the good guys." Yu and Hiryu stood up from the ground and immediately withdrew back after seeing the villagers retreat.

"Time to get out of here then." Ada kept his binoculars and made her retreat, moving once again to do what she needs to do before leaving the Salazar Castle permanently.

* * *

><p>Drawbridge, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"They're already here!"<p>

Cammy shouted after Tea, Yu and Hiryu had successfully crossed over the drawbridge. Leon and Kevin went to work with the cranks in order to pull the drawbridge up to prevent anyone hostile from crossing over to get them.

"Now that's done." Leon sighed, a bit tired after he did his part in operating the crank. "Let's move into the big, spooky castle."

The team jogged inside, even though the drawbridge has literally covered their backs. Ashley looked back at the drawbridge already up before she went with Leon and Kevin inside the castle.

* * *

><p>Unknown Room, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>The teams got inside a small room with nothing inside, except for barrels and a staircase or two leading upstairs with a door at the end. There was also a Merchant's shop, baffling all of the team members again on how the heck he got there since they last saw him at the very outskirts of El Pueblo.<p>

"Greetings, strangahs!" The Merchant greeted the teams, walking out of the small shed he had set up shop in to speak with them. "Haven't seen you lot since back at the outskirts of the El Pueblo."

"But..." Martin spoke to the Merchant, wanting to rip his hair out. "We just saw you out there a few minutes ago!"

"Yes, I know strangah." The Merchant said while he slowly nodded. "Terrible, isn't it?"

Leon and Kevin simply facepalmed, wondering if they'll meet the hooded man like this ever again while they're in the castle.

"Anything we should know about then?" Cammy spoke to the Merchant. "Before most of us will go nuts in thinking about how you can be in many place at the same time."

"I can say one thing though." The Merchant replied. "All of you are going to have a fiery end up ahead unless you plan ahead."

"Is something up?" Chun-Li asked the Merchant.

"I'm not too sure." The Merchant shrugged his shoulders. "My Spanish is a bit bad and all, but I swore I heard that the monks have prepared catapults for its defense."

"Excuse me..." Diana questioned the Merchant. "But did you say monks?"

"Yes I did, strangah." The Merchant told Diana. "It's no joke."

"Now I'm reminded of a word that could tie these monks together with the cult..." Hien tried to snap his fingers to think of the said word. "But I can't remember it at the moment. Maybe it'll come back later."

"In the meantime." Kevin spoke to the Merchant next. "You got any weapons or items for sale?"

Kevin's question brought a smirk to the Merchant. "Oh you didn't have to ask that, strangah."

As usual, he brought down his wooden backpack on the ground and opened it. The group saw some weapons that they have not seen when the Merchant had tried to sell them for the first time.

"I think this is a weapon that most of you are familiar with." The Merchant presented a Benelli M3 shotgun with a pistol grip and buttstock combination. "Ladies and gentlemen, may I present to you the Benelli M3 of Italy."

Kevin whistled. "That's a sweet weapon."

"Indeed, good sir." The Merchant agreed with him. "With 7 shells plus one in the magazine, plus the fact that the weapon will allow the user the choice of semi-automatic or pump-action operation, I would most prefer this weapon over the Remington 870 you currently have."

"How many shells does that shotgun hold?" Eriko spoke to Leon, pointing to the Remington 870 he ported.

"I think around six at least." Leon told the Japanese detective before he stared at the shotgun he was holding. "Well, I guess it's about time I changed weapons anyway. It's not like it belongs to me to begin with."

"Then it looks like you're buying a shotgun from me, strangah?" The Merchant eyed Leon, already knowing that he's got a prospective customer.

"Sure." Leon told the Merchant before he pumped the Remington 870 to unload any unused buckshots. He collected three shells from the weapon.

"How much are you going to buy that then?" Kevin asked the Merchant after Leon unloaded his shotgun.

"Aaaahhhhh..." The Merchant nodded after hearing Kevin's question before he pointed to Leon's Remington 870. "I'll buy that at a high price."

* * *

><p>MOM's Office, The Center<p>

* * *

><p>"We got progress on Martin and the others." Billy gave MOM a printout from the SID. "According to the SID, they're about to enter a castle that belongs to the Salazar family."<p>

"Did you ask SID to make checks if the Salazar family is related to the Los Illuminados in any way?" MOM asked Billy she checked the printout, which showed the coordinates and a picture of the Salazar castle in Spain.

"I did." Billy nodded. "They said that most of the family was against them, but they'll make more security checks to make sure they're not missing anything out there."

"Good." MOM told Billy. "Keep me posted."

"Understood, MOM."

"Anything with the DSO?"

"No. They're being quiet to make sure they don't have a double agent in their ranks. Especially with the case of the National Security Council wanting to get some action done."

MOM sighed. "Those Americans. Always believing that force will make things right for them."

* * *

><p>Unknown Room, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>After for some time, Leon haggled with the Merchant for the former to sell his used Remington 870 for 20,000 pesetas. This was a win for both of them. The Merchant was able to make some business. Leon was able to get cash on behalf of the group.<p>

Tea also haggled with the Merchant, selling two Velvet Blues for 5,000 pesetas, which the Merchant had no problem with. Same thing went with some gold bars she sold for the same prince and a Spinel for 2,000 pesetas

"So you're getting a new weapon, huh?" Kevin spoke to Leon after watching him sell off the shotgun.

"Guess I am." Leon replied to Kevin's question. "If I can get a new shotgun from the Merchant, then so much the better, Kevin."

"Can't argue with you there, Leon."

"How much is the M3?" Leon spoke to the Merchant, who had just conducted a check on the weapon to ensure that it was not loaded with buckshots or some other shotgun shell.

"I'm selling it for 32,000 pesetas, strangah." The Merchant, patting the buttstock for emphasis.

"Err..." Hien looked at Tea. "How much do we have in total so far, Tea?"

"Let's see..." Tea counted with her fingers before she replied. "I bought a replacement for Dan's carbine for 22,000 pesetas. And then we got Leon's shotgun sold, so that's 42,000 pesetas. Add the Spinel, the Velvet Blues and the gold bars I found with Yu and that's around 54,000 pesetas." She also found some shotgun and .45 ACP ammo, but she handed them to Jean and Kevin since their weapons are compatible with them.

"I gotcha!"

Most of the team members wondered why Yu shouted from the back of the shed.

"He he he..." The Merchant chuckled. "Looks like your friend has caught something very interesting, strangah."

"We'll see to that later." Tea handed the Merchant 32,000 pesetas, which earned Leon his M3. "And that gives us 22,000 pesetas remaining."

"I'm also selling another sniper rifle with me today..." The Merchant was about to introduce another weapon in his wares when Yu came to see them with his combat knife. A dead snake was seen stabbed on the head.

"The catch of the day?" Hiryu was seen leaning on the shed wall, placing his back and his right foot on it.

"Yep." Yu grinned. "It's not bad once you cut off the snake's head and all..."

"I don't know if that's a good time to talk about snake cuisine..." Jill advised the Japanese Spriggan.

Ashley was a bit freaked out when Yu was talking about the potential of eating the dead snake he killed.

* * *

><p>Unknown Area<p>

* * *

><p><strong>"Yes, what is it?"<strong>

Krauser was speaking to Wesker on his smart phone, alone on a metal catwalk. The others weren't with him since they were either goofing out or trying to rest.

**"So the Spriggans ARCAM deployed are people I'm familiar with eh?" **Krauser suddenly had a grin. **"That ought to be interesting."**

The ex-commando listened in as Wesker continued to talk to him over the line.

**"They got a mystic too? This I gotta see..."**

* * *

><p>Unknown Room, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"As I'm saying," The Merchant coughed before he was interrupted as Yu chopped the dead snake's head off with his combat knife. "I'd like to present to all of you the Heckler &amp; Koch SL8-4 semi-automatic rifle." The rifle he showed off had the same Leupold scope being used on Kevin's SSG P IV.<p>

"I would assume that's not North American-made slash imported?" Kevin asked the Merchant, looking at the black stock finish the SL8-4 rifle had.

"Of course not, strangah." The Merchant assured him. "I don't use those since they only allow 10-round magazines for the most part."

"European then?" Jean suggested. "Then it would be easy since he uses a G36C. That way, anyone who can buy it can interchange ammo and magazines as needed."

Hiryu pointed to the slinged G36C, which was positioned in front of his chest.

"How much?" Leon asked the Merchant.

"Well with current prices and everything..." The Merchant began, gripping the SL8-4's foregrip tightly as he grabbed a note from his pocket to read off the rifle's final prince. "The SL8-4 should be around 35,000 pesetas."

"Dammit..." Hiryu said after hearing the price.

"That ought to leave us around 13,000 pesetas to go in case we're going to buy that rifle."

"I think we should be fine for now." Fujino tried to intervene. "After all, Kevin-san's shooting skills are good that it has saved us from gruesome situations."

"That's what I like to hear." Kevin grinned while giving the thumbs up.

"Come on, Kevin." Leon rolled his eyes after Kevin was being confident. "Don't let the little girl give you an ego boost or something, yeah?"

"Then should I hold onto this rifle then?"

"Sure, why not?"

"Time to go then?" Hien pointed to the staircase. "After all, the Merchant was kind to help us load us our magazines and everything."

"If everyone is ready..." Leon said, arming himself with the Benelli M3 after checking that the shotgun was set to fire the loaded buckshots in semi-automatic mode.

Hiryu and Hien took the lead, climbing up the staircase with their assault carbines aimed up and all around to make sure that no enemy would try to attack them from all around. Once they got up the second staircase, the masked brothers approached a metal door. As usual, they were cautious considering that they were in enemy territory.

"Go first?" Hien asked Hiryu.

"Most certainly, brother." Hiryu replied, gesturing to Hien to crouch and stay behind him. The formerly slowly approach the metal door to check if the door was rigged up in any way.

Hiryu crouched to look down the door before he pulled out his Fairbarn-Sykes combat knife to check the threshold for any wires or traps rigged up to block their way.

_Steady... Steady..._

When the masked SHADOW agent jabbed the knife's blade through the threshold, he had a sigh of relief after no wires or trap were heard. Hiryu clenched his left fist and made a punching motion towards the metal door.

_Get ready, guys._

Hiryu got the door open and aimed the G36C outside. Afterwards, he gestured to the others that it looks safe to proceed outside.

* * *

><p>Criminal Investigation Section office, Shinjuku Police Department, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan<p>

* * *

><p>Kenji Narita, head of the Shinjuku Police Department's Criminal Investigation Section, had received a few updates ever since Eriko was sent to Spain to conduct an investigation of the presence of Los Illuminados. Some officials at the National Police Agency and at the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department have suggested that they are trying to establish a Japanese branch of the group in order to overshadow Aum Shinrikyo now that most of its members and leaders are either in prison or were executed.<p>

"Any further updates of Detective Aizawa?" Narita asked a plainclothes detective assigned to the CIS division. He was in his 30s, had short hair and wore glasses. In addition, he had a gray suit and red necktie with a white dress shirt and black Venetian loafer shoes.

"None at the moment sir." The detective replied. "Even the Public Security Bureau at the MPD doesn't have any other clues than that they got information on Detective Aizawa's condition."

"She's still..." Narita trailed off before he continued. "infected by the cult?"

The detective sighed and nodded, fearing the worst. "I'm afraid so, sir."

"I see." Narita replied. _I wonder if I have time to call on Atsuko and talk to her..._

"By the way..." The detective placed a manila envelope on her table, sealed off with tape. "I was instructed to deliver this to you from the MPD. Word I heard is that it's from some organization helping out."

"Thank you detective." Narita thanked the man. "I'll take it from here."

Narita used a scissor blade to tear open the manila envelope since it was sealed off and he didn't have time to spend to remove the tape for fear of destroying whatever paper documents were inside.

_I'm getting too old for this job. Perhaps after Eriko returns back from Spain that I should start looking for someone who can succeed me as the head of the Criminal Investigation Section._

* * *

><p>Somewhere in the Outer Castle Walls, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>The teams made it to the Salazar Castle's outer castle walls, seeing that boxes are in the pathway. Although it was a good thing that they weren't blocking their way.<p>

"This oughta be easy for all of us." Martin said confidently.

"I wouldn't be so sure of that." Cammy warned the Canadian Center agent.

"From experience?"

Cammy nodded.

"I'll go and take a look." Leon casually walked towards a corner and drew out his Silver Ghost, leaning himself on the wall. He moved slowly until his left arm was near the corner. The blonde man peeked carefully so as not to expose his head to enemy attack.

"Dammit..." He looked back to his comrades and called for Kevin.

"Kevin." Leon whispered. "Over here."

Kevin ran up to Leon, porting his SSG P IV.

"What is it?"

"Two monks patrolling the castle wall up ahead. Can you take them out?"

"Sure. I need some space."

"Alright."

Leon patted his right shoulder, crouching after Kevin did so first. Kevin hugged the corner wall, shouldering the SSG P IV. The brown-haired man aimed the silenced sniper rifle.

"Just leave everything to me." Kevin gave a deep breath and relaxed his muscles after he crouched, giving him enough time to fire the SSG P IV at one of the monk's heads. After killing the first monk, which exploded in a head explosion, Kevin diverted his attention to the other patrolling monk. So far, the silencer didn't alert him to the gunshot.

"And bang..." Kevin murmured, firing the second 7.62 NATO subsonic round that killed the other monk. "goes the weasel."

Kevin told Leon that it was all clear and he would provide initial overwatch until most of them are safe.

"Come on." Leon told the others, holstering Silver Ghost and unslinging the Benelli M3 from his right shoulder. "We need to move before the other monks know we're here."

Before Leon passed a huge box on the left, he took 7.62 NATO subsonic ammo left on top and hurled it to Kevin, who stored the box away until he can reload the SSG P IV.

* * *

><p>Criminal Investigation Section office, Shinjuku Police Department, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan<p>

* * *

><p>Narita removed the documents from the ripped manila envelope, revealing a printed note meant for him.<p>

_Your detective is safe._

_- C  
><em>

The old man smiled when he read the printout.

_Looks like the Center is on the case. I just hope that they are right._

Narita searched the manila envelope for anything of value. He got a printed map of Spain with a set of coordinates placed on it, indicating Eriko's location._  
><em>

"Pretty nice of them to locate Eriko as of this time..."

* * *

><p>Somewhere in the Outer Castle Walls, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Kevin once more caught up with Leon, the latter telling the former to stick close in case of something heavy. So far, they're climbed up the spiral stone staircase without any much incident. Kevin used this attention to reload.<p>

"Over there." Chun-Li pointed to the first catapult she can see up above the castle wall pathway. "Is that a catapult?"

"¡Allí está..." The group heard someone speaking in a deep Spanish voice. They looked at the catapult Chun-Li pointed to see some monk garbed in red with a bone-based mask worn over his face.

"Oh shit..." Hiryu murmured.

"Mátalo..." The masked monk pointed to the group's location.

"Get down!" Jean yelled, motioning to everyone to duck and cover their heads as the catapults fired burning boulders that struck a nearby gazebo.

"Cover me!" Kevin shouted, shouldering his SSG P IV. He fired the first shot at the catapult in front of the group, targeting the red barrel. The barrel exploded, taking out whoever was nearby.

Hiryu and Hien laid suppressive fire towards the other catapult, allowing Jean to make a mad leap towards it thanks to his lycanthrope agility and strength. Once on the catapult, Jean fired his SPAS-12 to kill the monks. He then saw the red monk making a run for it.

"Oh non vous n'avez pas..." Jean murmured, firing the SPAS-12 several times to detonate the red barrel that killed the fleeing monk. He then ran back by leaping down on the pathway.

"We've secured the area!" Yu shouted to the others. He then faced Cammy and Chun-Li. "You ladies better go see if there's something you can find. We'll stay here and cover your backs."

* * *

><p>Lower Room, somewhere in the Outer Castle Walls, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Cammy and Chun-Li went down the steps and saw a path that leads to a small tower with a cannon inside.<p>

"A cannon?" Chun-Li said, surprised to see one cannon that looked to be functional.

"Let me check." Cammy inspected the cannon from the barrel all the way to the firing mechanism. "Hm. Looks like the cannon can still be useful."

Chun-Li looked up to see an open hole above. "We'll need to bring it up." The Interpol looked around to see no mechanism to bring it up. "But no mechanism's around to lift this thing up."

Meanwhile, Cammy began to use her kicks to break up the wooden barrels. Inside, she found a Velvet Blue, an incendiary grenade and 1300 pesetas.

"I've got the goods, let's go." The red beret-wearing woman told Chun-Li.

The two women got out and met up with Jill, who had provided rear security when they told her that they found a cannon in the lower tower. Leon met up with Jill and told them to proceed ahead so that they can gain control of the location they are in.

* * *

><p>Small Courtyard, somewhere in the Outer Castle Walls, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>The teams moved up once again, only to be met with double gates up ahead and a small network of roads.<p>

"What do we do?" Jill asked Leon, who looked around for signs of enemies or traps.

"We'll probably need to use the cannon like you said." Leon told Jill. "I'll just need a few volunteers with me. Perhaps around two to come with me, get the cannon up and take out those doors since I'm sure they're locked to keep people like us out. It may be locked."

"What about the others?" Diana asked.

"The others should stay behind and guard this area to make sure no one tries to conduct a sneak attack." Leon told the Canadian Center agent. "Otherwise, we should be quick in checking the area out and getting the cannon operational."

"I can go." Yu told Leon.

"Me as well." Hien volunteered.

Leon nodded. "Alright. The rest of you stay here and keep an eye out for anything out there."

The three went off, intending on using the cannon to knock the double door out of commission.

* * *

><p>Small Shed, Courtyard, somewhere in the Outer Castle Walls, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>On the way to the shed, Yu took sight on another catapult right across the trio. The Japanese Spriggan used his G3A3's iron sights to take aim at the red barrel before he fired the German-made assault rifle in short bursts. This destroyed the first catapult. Hien took aim at the second catapult behind them, firing his Pindad SS1-M5 Commando via red dot sight to shoot the red barrel literally positioned next to the catapult.<p>

"Nicely done." Leon gave the thumbs up to the teenagers before they made their approach to the shed. After they were near the door, a monk came out with a skull mask and armed with a scythe.

"HOLY SH-!" The ex-SPD officer recruit panicked when he saw the monk drag the scythe with him, making Leon open fire with the Benelli M3 at the enemy's chest twice. This made the enemy instantly collapse while the scythe was dropped.

"Shoot him!" Hien barked. Yu emptied his G3A3 on full auto on the downed monk. He kept his fire until the downed monk groaned in pain. His corpse subsequently began to dissolve into nothing.

"That was a close shave." Leon muttered, barely firing his M3 with two buckshots fired when Yu took care of the rest.

"Tell me about it." Hien muttered while Yu reloaded his G3A3.

"What's in this place anyway?" Yu said, checking the inside of the shed first after he reloaded his weapon. He simply punched the wooden boxes, thanks to added strength from his Armored Muscle Suit. Inside were pesetas worth 1300 pesetas and 5.56 NATO bullets. Yu gave the bullets to Hien while keeping the pesetas until he can get together with Tea.

"And this one..." Leon murmured, having his Silver Ghost in case of either a trap or a snake inside since he and the others have encountered the latter a lot lately when they usually open boxes for items.

"A Yellow Herb." The blonde DSO agent murmured again, taking the herb and keeping it for medical supplies.

"By the way," Hien looked at Yu as Leon told the two to leave the shed at once. "where's the snake you killed?"

"Didn't get the time to set up a proper meal." Yu shrugged his shoulders.

* * *

><p>Outside Small Shed, Courtyard, somewhere in the Outer Castle Walls, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>By the time Yu and Hien got out of the small shed, Leon had just explored the rear of the shed and opened up a treasure chest and bagged a few gold bars worth 5,000 pesetas.<p>

"I got these." Leon showed off the gold bars to the two.

"I can hang on to them for a while since I got some empty pouches." Hien offered to keep the gold bars in an empty dump pouch clipped on his tactical vest. Leon agreed and gave the bars to him for temporary safekeeping.

"Let's move and get that cannon operational, guys." Leon reminded the two.

"Right!" Yu and Hien shouted in unison.

* * *

><p>Pathway to Cannon platform, Courtyard, somewhere in the Outer Castle Walls, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>The trio crouched once they got on the pathway leading to the cannon platform. This was done after Leon caught sight of the third catapult, which was within sight. He also saw a red barrel positioned nearby.<p>

"What's with those red barrels?" Leon muttered, wondering why the monks placed them near the catapults. "You'd think that they'd place them somewhere safe from small arms fire even though there are using them to light up the boulders to make them deadly ammunition."

"I've been wondering the same thing as well." Yu told Leon, who was taking rear security behind the DSO agent. "Perhaps they don't care about safety as long as they can do what their boss says?"

"I would agree too." Hien voiced his opinion.

"We need to shoot the barrel and destroy the catapult permanently." Leon told Yu and Hien. "And since my main weapon's a shotgun, it's a no go for me at all."

"I can try and handle this." Yu went for the selector switch of his G3A3, which was switched to single shot mode.

"I'll go and cover the back." Hien positioned himself behind Yu, shouldering the folding buttstock of his SS1-M5.

"ORYAHHHH!" Yu fired the G3A3 in single shot mode, watching the 7.62 NATO bullets make contact with the red barrel. A few seconds afterwards, the barrel exploded. It took out any of the monks near the barrel and destroyed the catapult.

"Cover me!" Leon shouted as he made a run for it towards the cannon platform.

* * *

><p>Cannon platform, Courtyard, somewhere in the Outer Castle Walls, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>The area was clear. Aside from the absence of enemies, Leon was being covered by Yu and Hien. Sighting a crank nearby, Leon went to work in raising the cannon platform.<p>

"Here goes nothing." Leon murmured, gripping the crank handle with his two hands. "And one and two..."

The blonde DSO agent pulled the crank handle with all the strength his hands, which allowed the cannon platform to be raised up slowly. Leon eyed the cannon platform's slow ascent, which gave him more determination to speed up the crank pulling until the platform was completely in place.

"Come on. Come on." Leon continued his pace in speeding up the ascent of the cannon platform. Faster and faster. Faster and faster. That was all in Leon's mind as he worked the crank.

Until he heard a sound from behind.

"Hm?" Leon saw that the cannon platform was completely visible at the platform, already aimed at the double gates blocking their way. He fired the cannon and watched as the gates were demolished.

"Okay..." The blonde man panted, a bit tired from working the crank. He slowly walked away from the cannon platform, gesturing to Yu and Hien to head to where the locked gates were.

* * *

><p>Near Demolished Gates, Small Courtyard, somewhere in the Outer Castle Walls, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Leon, Hien and Yu made contact with the others, glad to see them look alive and well.<p>

"That cannon still packed a punch, that's for sure." Cammy commented, who was the first to greet Leon.

"Glad to see you're still in one piece." Kevin greeted his DSO colleague.

"Yeah. I'm glad I still am."

"I guess this open hole in the castle walls is our next destination, I take it?" Diana asked Leon, pointing to the demolished gates.

"It is." Leon nodded. "Everyone, let's go!"

* * *

><p>Small Corridor, Small Courtyard, somewhere in the Outer Castle Walls, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Leon and Jill led the way, aiming their sidearms as they advanced. When they made the turn to the right, they saw the familiar blue torches with the Merchant standing between them.<p>

"It's just you." Leon "greeted" the Merchant. "You do really need to tell us how you get from one place to another. It could help us escape this place."

"I'm afraid I can't strangah." The Merchant told Leon before he said. "Anyway, I will assume that you have wares to sell to me?"

"Indeed we do." Tea approached the Merchant slowly before she stood in front of him. "Allow me to show you what we got."

Tea showed the Merchant the gold bars, the Velvet Blue and a Spinel Leon found after he approached the torch and retrieved it by using his combat knife to get it out of place.

"All in all, that should cost us around 30,800 pesetas." Tea told the Merchant. She then went for a pocket in her trenchcoat and handed the hooded man a red ruby found from the corpse of one of the Bella Sisters killed earlier in the pit.

"I forgot to give this to you." The British Spriggan explained to the Merchant. "I'm usually not that forgetful."

"Ah, it's quite alright strangah." The Merchant replied to Tea. "For I'll buy it at a high price."

"Does he always say that?" Diana whispered to Martin while haggling was still going on.

Martin shrugged his shoulders.

"And now we have a total of 40,800 pesetas since you bought the ruby for 10,000 pesetas, correct?" Tea asked the Merchant.

"Indeed you are, strangah." The Merchant confirmed Tea's question.

"So we got enough dough for the SL8-4 rifle the Merchant's selling out there." Kevin told Leon and Jill. "So uh... Are we gonna buy another one?"

"Anyone against getting another sniper rifle?" Leon asked the group for a consensus.

"The question is whether anyone else is a good shot besides Kevin?" Hiryu asked Leon another question.

"Perhaps I can have a go at it?" Jill suggested.

"Anyone opposes it?" Leon went to ask around. He looked and saw no opposition against his question.

"Looks like you're getting a chance to be a crack shot yourself." Yu told Jill, earning a raised eyebrow from the woman.

"Doesn't hurt that I get to work alongside the most famous survivor of Raccoon City as my sniping partner." Kevin boasted, goofing off with his arms stretched out.

"I guess that makes another sale, strangah." The Merchant nodded, handing off the SL8-4 to Jill, already loaded with a 30-round magazine with a Leupold scope mounted. The hooded shopkeeper also presented to Jill with five 30-round magazines, all of them loaded.

"That's pretty generous of you to hand me a loaded weapon." Jill thanked the Merchant for handing her a weapon.

"And that's a total of 5,800 pesetas left." Tea murmured, doing the math for how much money they have left.

"Time to move in, guys. Let's go." Kevin ran up to the red door, standing on the side after he drew out his Glock 21 Mariner. Jill and anyone else with pistols as their only weapon joined Kevin, sidearms already drawn out. Leon stacked up on the right side with his M3 at the ready.

Leon reached for the red door and tugged the handle to see if it was locked.

_Alright. It's not locked. And it better NOT be a trap._

He pushed the door inward and aimed the shotgun's barrel at the room.

"Move."

Leon was the first to start sweeping the room up ahead.

"By the way, strangah." The Merchant addressed Tea. "Your request from a while was a strange one, but I've got these clothes you wanted me to get..."

* * *

><p>Lower Level Room, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Leon was the first to enter, quickly sweeping the entire room while having his M3 shouldered. Kevin later followed him and swept the room, having his sidearm aimed at the environment in front of him.<p>

"All clear, everyone." Leon told the others after they got in. Ashley followed behind last before Diana closed the door. The DSO agents then noted that there was an incoming transmission from America.

**"Leon, Kevin." **The DSO transmission had been initiated by Hunnigan, who was all business as usual. **"What's your current location?"**

**"We're in a castle belonging to the Salazar family..." **Kevin replied to Hunnigan. **"But with the att****acks we encountered, it seems that the patriarch of the family is in league with Los Illuminados."**

**"That's not good."**

**"They must not get many visitors 'cause they're giving us one hell of a welcome." **Leon then told Hunnigan his side of things based on what the group has encountered.

**"Sounds bad. I have an idea you two."  
><strong>

**"Sure. As long as it can help us get out of here..."**

**"Alright. I need you two to..."  
><strong>

Suddenly, the connection was not getting any better. Instead, it was getting worse to the point that Leon and Kevin were not receiving any transmissions from DSO HQ.

"Are we in trouble?" Ashley asked the two DSO agents.

* * *

><p>Command Center, Field Operations Support Division, DSO Headquarters, somewhere in the United States of America<p>

* * *

><p>"W-what's happening?"<p>

"I don't know! We lost all contact with agents Kennedy and Ryman in Spain!"

"Have we been hacked?!"

"We're still trying to determine that possibility!"

Hunnigan didn't know what had happened. Prior to giving out some support, she lost all contact with Leon and Kevin. What's worse is that any transmission from their division was met with a lot of interference.

"Is there any change?" Hunnigan asked a FOS agent working with the comms.

"Nothing yet, Ms. Hunnigan." The FOS agent replied. "It seems that we're all being met with static interference."

"I'm afraid Special Agent Benford will be met with bad news about this..."

* * *

><p>Lower Level Room, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"What happened?" Chun-Li asked the DSO agents after they had to stop talking to Hunnigan.<p>

"Our transmission was suddenly cut off." Leon said, now feeling worried the moment the group got inside the castle.

Kevin faced Martin and asked him. "Can you guys check out if you can make contact with your superior or something?"

"Sure." Martin nodded. "Just give me a minute or two..."

Martin went to work on his U-Watch if he can use the comm device. The Canadian was frustrated when all he got was static interference, followed by a **CONNECTION FAILED **message.

"This isn't right." Martin grumbled. "U-Watches are suppose to be the best that we can't have our comms intercepted."

Yu and Hien tested their comm devices, the former on his helmet and the latter on his earpiece. Both Spriggans shook their heads as they were also getting static intereference.

"I'm not liking this one bit." Eriko mumbled.

The others looked at the SHADOW agents to see if they can make contact with the outside world.

"We'll try." Fujino told the group. She gestured to Hiryu and Dan to activate their O-Watches' communicators to get in touch with the Center.

"Nothing." Dan sighed, getting static interference from his O-Watch.

"The same with me." Fujino added.

"God dammit..." Hiryu was really mad. "There is no god damn way that our O-Watches would not work..." The masked agent was really mad to the point that he won't mind using his fists on something. Or someone.

"Alright ladies and gentlemen." Leon announced to the group. "We're all officially cut off from the rest of the world. It seems Los Illuminados has acquired communication jamming capabilities or they got someone in their pockets to do the jamming job for them."

"I'm actually surprised that a cult has acquired that capability in the first place." Yu told Leon.

"It would be once we get to the bottom of things."

Jean took a box of buckshot shells for himself before he searched a cabinet, revealing 1300 pesetas for a total of 7,100 pesetas.

* * *

><p>MOM's Office, The Center<p>

* * *

><p>"We're getting a lot of activity from the SID, MOM." Billy came inside MOM's office to inform her of progress. "Martin and the SHADOW agents tried to make contact with us, but the agents are receiving static interference."<p>

"Static interference?"

"That's right." Billy nodded before he continued with his explanation. "Our communication equipment is the best of the best, but SID still can't figure out if Los Illuminados has acquired radio jamming capabilities."

MOM sighed in frustration, not believing the problem that her agents are currently facing.

"Anything else from Spain, Billy?"

"Not at the moment. Unless we can work this out with restoring communications, our agents are permanently cut off from us."

"It looks like the enemy's been expecting them to be in the castle and decided to do that just to hamper their efforts."

"Alright. Head back to SID and work with them to get comms back online."

"Okay, MOM."

* * *

><p>Lower Level Room, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"It looks like we're alone without any help." Sho said, surmising the events that had happened. "And when that happens, we're be in a disadvantage in enemy territory."<p>

"Right. Let's move before we get into more trouble." Leon said when he shouldered and aimed his M3 at the stairway before he told Jean. "I need you to be with me."

"Bien entendu, monsieur." Jean replied, who had his SPAS-12 placed on his right shoulder.

"Come on." Leon took the lead when he slowly ascended the stairway slowly. He frowned when he thought he heard voices.

"Voices." Leon whispered. "Sounds like someone's doing a Latin chant."

"I do like a surprise or two." Jean made a mad dash to the stairway. And he did the next thing that confused Leon for a little bit...

* * *

><p>Upper Level Room, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"Bonjour vous monnk rampant." Jean said in a very calm voice when he leaped from the stairway to the upper level, shooting two monks armed with maces with his SPAS-12. The blonde, French Spriggan grinned when he fired the shotgun twice in semi-automatic mode.<p>

"Moving in!" Leon shouted, aiming the M3 at the downed monks until they began to groan in pain. Like all individuals who were fully injected with the plaga parasite, they dissolved into nothing.

"Clear!" Jean shouted, doing a sweep of the room while aiming the SPAS-12.

"Clear!" Leon shouted, who also did the same thing.

Jill came up the stairway, who began to check the other side of the room. Eriko joined up with her with both women already armed with their sidearms as a precaution.

"It's all clear here." Jill told the shotgun-armed men. Jean and Leon took the time to reload their weapons once again.

Fujino came up with the other Center agents, with Ashley following behind Diana closely.

"Finally." Kevin sighed in relief. He then looked around. "I guess the next question is how the heck do we get out of this room? There's no door that I can see around here."

"Let's all search the place." Leon told the group what to do next. "I'll go and secure the area with a few others."

The others nodded, positioning themselves in case that the monks would raid the room.

* * *

><p>Ashley took a seat down in an empty beach to take a rest while Fujino and Diana started to search the room for a way out.<p>

"Can you still use your O-Watch to get a map of this place?" Diana asked Fujino while the two Center agents were looking for any signs of a physical door they can use to leave the room.

Fujino shook her head. "It may be impossible at the moment, Diana-san. Since all forms of communications are blocked from the outside world and vice versa, it seems the cult is ready to do everything they can to make sure we stay dead."

"Although I do find it weird that Los Illuminados has some access to electronic jamming technology." Diana frowned while she made her thoughts clear to the Japanese teenager.

"Indeed. Perhaps they've got some assistance from mercenaries." Fujino made a suggestion.

"Over here." Diana ushered Fujino to follow her.

"What is it?" Fujino asked the Canadian teenager.

"Here." Diana pointed to the sword hanging on the wall. "It looks like the sword we've seen downstairs."

"Ah." Fujino nodded. "And you think those two hanging swords are relevant right now?"

Diana replied. "Yeah. I'm not sure, but perhaps we can use them to get out of here."

"Shall I get the other sword then, Diana-san?"

The two teenagers suddenly heard some Latin chanting from downstairs.

"Of all the times..." Fujino murmured.

* * *

><p>Adam Benford's Office, DSO Headquarters, somewhere in the United States of America<p>

* * *

><p>Adam had received word from the FOS that all communication to and from Leon and Kevin had been cut off thanks to static interference. This alarmed the man since he was told that Los Illuminados was a religious extremist cult and yet, they have access to electronic jamming technology.<p>

"This can't be right." Adam leaned back on his chair, pondering on the facts handed to him by Hunnigan after she came to see him in his office. "A cult having access to cutting edge technology, which is used to cut off my agents electronically."

The DSO veteran began to think off the complications with the two agents fending off for themselves with Ashley in tow. They can't get help and they can't get outside support for even an extraction.

"This can only mean two things."

Adam went to formulate two theories on how Los Illuminados was able to jam their comms.

"One. The cult does actually have cutting edge technology that they can use to jam our frequencies." Adam frowned. "Or two, they figured out such a thing could happen eventually and decided to get some help from mercenaries or from a rogue PMC willing to help them for the right price."

_Dammit! I'm getting a headache just from thinking about all of this. I need to clear this out before I talk to Hunnigan and to the FOS and see if they've resolved the comm blackout problem.  
><em>

Adam proceeded to exit the room, heading to the infirmary to get something for the growing headache that the glasses-wearing man was feeling in his temples.

Chapter 12 END

* * *

><p>PS - Here's chapter 12. Sorry for the long wait. I'd like to give a shout out that Narita (The old man) from Jiraishin never had a first name given out, so I made one up. Also sorry for the long wait, had some stuff to take care of. Trying to get this done with my Gundam crossover fic, although I probably won't that again if ever. That depends on the circumstances though, so we'll see how things will proceed in the next few days or weeks.<p>

Otherwise, I'll do what I can in updating the two stories. This story chapter is updated with my Gundam story, so I'll try this as an experiment of sorts in updating them. If not, then I'll find a way to make sure they'll be updated since I may not have time to finish them and I want to finish up the story of my main OCs and close that chapter for good.

Been dabbling on a potential Super Robot Wars storyline involving franchises not made in Japan, which includes North America, South Korea, but I don't know about Astro Plan since a majority of it's too heavily based on Macross Frontier and the Gundam 00 series. But I'm sure that I won't write this story due to time constraints for the most part. It's in TV Tropes' Fanfiction section and it's called the "All Purpose Super Robot Wars fanfiction thread". Perhaps I can work with someone on this at least.

Meanwhile, do let me know how the chapter went and everything. Means a lot.

Enjoy reading the chapter and do let me know how the chapter is. Thanks.


	13. Castle Quarters Combat

Resident Evil/Biohazard: Hostage Rescue

Rating: T

NOTE:

All characters of Resident Evil/Captain Commando/Street Fighter are under the copyright of Capcom. All characters of Martin Mystery are under the copyright of Marathon. All characters of Kara no Kyokai are under the copyright of TYPE-MOON. All characters of Spriggan are under the copyright of Hiroshi Takashige and Ryoji Minagawa. All characters of Jiraishin are under the copyright of Tsutomu Takahashi. The appearance of Kenneth "Kenny" Feng is under noctorro's jurisdiction. All others are under my jurisdiction.

Summary:

The group is now inside Salazar Castle, the only place where they can go in while trying to find a way out of the area. Can they navigate the interior of Salazar Castle safely or will they become one of the castle's victims after it was until the control of Los Illuminados? Stay tune to this chapter to find out.

Chapter 13: Castle Quarters Combat

* * *

><p>Upper Level Room, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>The group could hear some moaning, chanting and shuffling of feet coming from the lower section of the room.<p>

"Incoming everyone! Take cover!" Leon barked, pumping his Benelli M3 after he reloaded a few buckshot shells into the weapon. Jean did the same and got ready his Franchi SPAS-12. Both men were crouching near the staircase's stone-made railing.

"Now what's the catch?" Yu grumbled, crouching behind a long table he just overturned alongside Hien. He looked to the side and saw another long table overturned, this time with Diana, Eriko and Jill. Ashley was seen on the ground, covering her heads with her hands.

"Some of them are coming." Kevin told Yu, readying his Steyr SSG P IV.

"I can use this." The Japanese Spriggan agent got out the incendiary grenade, ready to take the safety pin out at a moment's notice.

The other Center agents crouched behind Yu, with Fujino being able to get out her I-Cutter after activating its energy blade.

_Now what? _Cammy wondered as she and Chun-Li took cover behind a pillar.

"Throw it in!" Kevin shouted at Yu, pointing to the incendiary grenade he was holding.

"R-right!" Yu nodded, taking off the safety pin. "Fire in the hole, people!"

Everyone crouched as Yu hurled the primed incendiary grenade towards the staircase, hoping that it would land on the bottom and engulf the monks by burning them.

A few seconds after the incendiary grenade, the group heard some loud moaning and wailing for a short time before they died down. A few more seconds later, the flames created by the grenade began to die down slowly.

"Are they dead?" Kevin muttered, wondering if the incendiary grenade really did the trick.

Leon gestured to Jean to move in with him, leaning over the stone-made railing to aim their combat shotguns. Both men saw that the black-clad monks have indeed died from the detonation of the incendiary grenade.

"That red bastard's still alive." Leon muttered, aiming the iron sights of his M3 at the monk clad in red robes with a weird mask made out of animal bones.

"It looks likes his robes are partially burnt from the incendiary grenade." Jean told Leon on the mask-wearing monk.

"He's still a bit weak from the incendiary grenade." Leon aimed the M3 at the red robed monk. "Let's waste him.

"Okay!"

The two of them fired their shotguns at the bottom of the stairway, targeting the monk. They watched the buckshots make contact with the monk's body, forcing him to stagger a bit backwards.

"He's still up!" Leon shouted, firing the M3 at the red monk's bone mask. The subsequent buckshot fire also blasted off the monk's entire head off like a balloon.

"Is he dead?" Jean asked after he stopped firing his SPAS-12.

The French Spriggan's question were answered in a grotesque manner when the ponytailed man saw the plaga parasite emerged out of the monk's neck. It had the appearance of a Venus flytrap plant that was hungry for a morsel to come to it.

Only this time, it had no problem killing off humans.

"Fire! Fire at the head!" Leon shouted, emptying his shotgun as he began to blast away at the parasite head. Jean joined in to keep the pressure up by firing his own shotgun at the parasite head as well until it exploded.

"Well that went well." The blonde DSO agent sighed in relief, seeing the headless red monk collapse on its knees before it dissolved.

"About time." Jean snarled. "I think we're going to run short on buckshot shells unless we acquire some during our journey to get out of Salazar Castle."

"Question is how the heck do we get out of this room? There's no visible doors that we can use."

"Pardon me..."

Diana approached Leon alongside Fujino, the latter carrying the Platinum Sword with her hands by holding it by the hilt and by the fake blade.

* * *

><p>President's Office, West Wing, White House, Washington D.C., United States of America<p>

* * *

><p>President Graham was in a private meeting with the Director of the DSO. The latter was a Caucasian with blonde hair in his middle 50s with a gray suit and blue necktie, seated across the president's desk.<p>

"Are you sure that there's nothing the FOS can do to break the stalemate with the lack of communication with your agents in Spain, Director?" The president asked the DSO director.

"I'm afraid not, Mr. President." The DSO director sighed while he shook his head. "According to what I've been personally told a while ago, it seems that the cult has acquired some high-tech devices to block our communications."

President Graham sighed, massaging his temples. "Goddammit. And I thought that they're just a damn extremist religious cult."

"That what's everyone in the DSO thought as well." The DSO director replied. "In fact, our allies in the Spanish intelligence community have concluded that it was possible for the cult to acquire some assistance from mercenaries or PMCs to set up electronic jamming capabilities."

"Anti-jamming capabilities?"

"That's right, sir."

The president felt very frustrated that the DSO had a major setback.

"I just don't believe this. The DSO is suppose to be one of the best out there and now you're telling me that someone else has outwitted you?"

"It seem so, Mr. President. It's also apparent that the cult has prepared for this contingency after your daughter was kidnapped."

"First my daughter was kidnapped with a traitor in the Secret Service in custody and now, the cult has anti-radio jamming capabilities. What's next?"

* * *

><p>Upper Level Room, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>The group waited for Diana and Fujino to completely make the exchange with the Platinum and Gold Swords while the others stood guard to make sure the two Center agents were not going to be harmed with the exchange already taking place.<p>

"So you think this'll work, Leon?" Kevin asked Leon, watching Fujino place the Platinum Sword in place of the Gold Sword. The former eyed the exchange, hoping it would work. Tea, meanwhile, collected 4,500 pesetas from where the remains of the dead red monk was and 1,800 pesetas from a long table near where the Platinum Sword is hanging. Jill had checked a small cabinet and secured a Red Herb, keeping it for future uses since the group doesn't have much herb supplies, leaving only a couple of First Aid Sprays left to ensure everyone was healthy and injury-free when the group took a break from the gunfight.

"Well it's either that or we stay stuck forever." Leon told Kevin.

"We're all done." Diana spoke to Leon after she and Fujino already completed the switch between the two swords.

"Alright."

The hanging Platinum Sword seemed to have worked for it slid back to the left, revealing a working door behind it.

"Seems to have paid off." Martin said, whistling. "Thanks, girls."

"Not a problem, Martin-san." Fujino replied to Martin's thanks.

"Here." Hien secured a Spinel, handing it to Tea while chucking a box of 9mm ammo to whoever needed it. In this case, the ammo was divided between Eriko and Jill.

"Time to stack up, people."

Leon directed the group towards the newly discovered door with him being the first to open the door while gripping his M3. After visually noticing that the outside was clear, he gave the signal that they can get out.

* * *

><p>Outside Upper Level Room, Inner Curtain Wall, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"All clear."<p>

Leon directed the group as they walked outside the room with no obvious choice but to keep moving forward.

Until they heard a voice of someone familiar.

"Hey you guys!"

Everyone turned around to see it was Luis, who was running towards them. And apparently from the same room where they sought refuge in.

_What the? How did he... _Martin was confused to see the Spanish man coming up from behind.

_Unless he's some kinda wizard or something... _Yu shared the Canadian teenager's sentiment.

"Why are you here, young man?" Sho asked Luis when he showed up, carefully looking at him for any sign of trouble.

"Oh..." Luis said before he began to pat his sides. "I just got something that you guys may need to..." The Spanish man began to frown when he was patting his pockets.

"Is something wrong now?" Ashley asked Luis, the latter looking very worried.

"Dammit..." Luis muttered. "Must've dropped it when I was running away from them."

"Dropped what?"

"A drug that will stop your convulsions."

Now everyone was feeling a bit worried, considering the blood coughing they've been through.

"Look." Luis tried to explain. "I know that all of you are active carriers. You've been coughing up blood, right?"

"We all are." Diana told the man. "And I'd like to say that it's an experience that I don't want to see again."

"And it also includes her." Jean pointed Ashley to Luis. "In case you're wondering."

"Crap." Luis muttered once more. "So the eggs have already hatched." He sighed. "We don't have much time."

"What are you talking about there, man?" Kevin asked, wondering what's the important thing Luis needs to retrieve.

"Let me come with you." Ashley began to insist to Luis.

Luis refused Ashley's request. "No. You stay here with the group." He then began to turn around and walk away.

"Why are you..." Leon questioned Luis' stance in helping them out, but he saw Luis waving him off.

"It makes me feel better." Luis said as he walked away. "Let's leave it at that."

* * *

><p>Command Center, Field Operations Support Division, DSO Headquarters, somewhere in the United States of America<p>

* * *

><p>Hunnigan was speaking with FOS technicians and hackers to see if they can get a breakthrough in getting pass through Los Illuminados' anti-jamming capabilities.<p>

"No good, Ms. Hunnigan." A man in his late 20s with East Asian features tried to show her what his progress was when was typing it away in a desktop with an OS customized for DSO purposes, which also includes message encryption. "No matter how many times I've tried, it seemed that the cult's got some good people in sabotaging our communications."

"That bad huh?"

"I'm afraid so. The others are still trying to look again on whether the equipment can still be taken of."

"Anything else?"

"Nothing yet. Spanish intelligence is also looking for any mercenaries or PMCs that could aid the cult, especially those who are suspicious."

"Okay. Just keep me informed about this."

"Yes, Ms. Hunnigan."

* * *

><p>Outside Upper Level Room, Inner Curtain Wall, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"So what now?"<p>

Kevin asked Leon after he saw Luis leave the area.

"Well there are two doors." Jill pointed to the double doors on the side and the door up ahead. "Somehow, it feels like I'm getting back memories in the Spencer Estate."

"Not to mention that it's pretty creepy." Ashley murmured, who stayed pretty close to Leon to be on the safe side.

"We can check the double doors first." Tea made the suggestion.

"Okay..." Leon was a bit hesitant.

"But it may be the only way to see if the door's locked or not." Hiryu spoke up.

"Bro is surely trying to be straight." Hien sighed.

"Bro huh?" Kevin nodded a bit, hearing the masked Spriggan agent's comments.

"I can go and check." Yu walked up forward, aiming his Sig Sauer P226 after making sure his Heckler & Koch G3A3 is slung around his neck. When he came to the double doors, he placed his gloved hand on the ring handle and pulled and pushed the door to see if it was locked.

"I guess it's pretty obvious." Jean said, looking at Yu trying to push and/or pull the door in front of him.

"Let's go then." Eriko pointed to the red door, earning nods from the gun-wielding members.

* * *

><p>Adam Benford's Office, DSO Headquarters, somewhere in the United States of America<p>

* * *

><p>Adam Benford was certainly not a very happy man today.<p>

He had been told by the director of the DSO that the president was furious about the updates on the case. Even with the progress of the FOS couldn't help break through the anti-jamming capabilities of the Los Illuminados.

The man wondered if there was someone in the DSO who could have tipped off the cult, betraying the agency in that manner.

"I wonder who Leon and Kevin can break through the anti-jamming problem made by Los Illuminados?"

The DSO veteran sighed, hoping that Hunnigan and the rest of the FOS can be of some help to the two DSO agents deployed in Spain.

Yes. It's certain that Adam Benford was not a very happy man.

* * *

><p>Outside Upper Level Room, Inner Curtain Wall, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Kevin handed his SSG P IV to Leon, who decided to check what's beyond the red door alongside Eriko and Jill. For some reason, Fujino insisted to help him.<p>

"Great, so I'm leading a team of girls to check out what's beyond the red door." Kevin said out loud, seeing Leon look at him with a raised eyebrow before the former accepted Leon's M3 as a substitute weapon. The others looked at Kevin, wondering if he's trying to be sarcastic, funny or both at the same time. Sho volunteered to help him out as well.

"Never mind me, people." Kevin waved Leon, already armed with the M3 on his left as he stacked up near the door. He began to touch the door to see if it was locked or not.

"Okay." The brown-haired DSO agent murmured, pushing the door slowly to get a peek what's behind the red door.

After a few minutes of checking, Kevin gestured to the ladies (and the ninja) that they would proceed to go and check out what's beyond the red door.

"Let's see what's behind door number 1."

Kevin exhaled before he slowly opened the door, holding the M3 with his left hand.

* * *

><p>Outside Armory, Inner Curtain Wall, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Kevin caught sight of a monk armed with a flail, which had a spiked ball attached to the stick via chain.<p>

"Ah shit..." Kevin whispered.

"What is it?" Sho asked the shotgun-armed DSO agent.

"Got someone guarding some room up ahead." Kevin told the ninja. "Just worried that we'll need to rush it and take down whoever's in the room by surprise."

"I think I can handle that." Sho murmured, drawing out Lightning Light from his saya.

"And what are we gonna do?"

"When I take down the guard outside, you and the girls rush in and take down everyone inside."

"Okay..."

Within seconds, Sho kicked the door out of the way and dashed in. The flail-armed monk heard the noise and turned his hear around to see what it was, only for him to get caught by Sho as he was tackled with the addition of being stabbed in the forehead with his ninjato.

"GO!" Kevin yelled, directing Eriko, Jill and Fujino to the armory.

* * *

><p>Inside Armory, Inner Curtain Wall, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Kevin took the lead in storming the armory through a doorless opening, firing the M3 to gun down one of the monks. Eriko and Jill fired their sidearms at the second monk, who had his face exposed. Fujino charged in and activated her I-Cutter before the purple-haired teenager used the I-Cutter's energy blade to slash the monk's right hand in order to disarm him of his own flail. Kevin finished the semi-handless monk off by firing a few buckshot rounds at his face until he was killed off.<p>

"Clear!" Eriko shouted, lowering her Sig Sauer P228.

"Clear!" Jill shouted, lowering her Beretta Px4 Type F.

"All clear!" Kevin shouted, lowering the M3 after firing the fatal shot that killed off the second monk.

"Looks like a medieval armory." Fujino said after observing the weapons inside the armory. It ranged from halberds to sabers with some spears mounted on the wall.

"Let's see what we can obtain from the room." Kevin slinged the M3. "Although I don't think we can take the halberds and the sabers in the armory..."

"Nothing much." Eriko told Kevin, collecting pesetas ranging from 1,600, 1,800 (taken from a smashed wooden barrel), 1,200 to 2,500 pesetas.

Sho came in the armory, gripping Lightning Light by its tsuka. Some blood was dripping from the ninjato's kissaki.

"We're all good here." Kevin informed the ninja.

"And I took care of the guard outside." Sho replied. "But I noted that he had some kind of tattoo all over his head."

"You too huh?" Jill spoke to Sho.

"Yes." Sho nodded. "I'm bothered by it and I'm wondering if it's some symbol of some kind."

"We could ask Luis." Kevin suggested. "If we can find him again..."

"I don't think we have the time for that, Kevin-san." Fujino objected. "We're not even sure where he can be in the castle."

"She's right." Sho agreed with her. "We can still continue down the path and explore what else is down there. Perhaps we can find a key that can unlock the main double doors."

"Well, what are waiting for then?" Kevin had collected some 9mm ammo and handed it to the girls, hoping that he could get some more .45 ACP ammo for himself so at least he won't have to worry about ammo shortage.

* * *

><p>En route to Storage Room, somewhere near Armory, Inner Curtain Wall, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Kevin and his little group walked down the path away from the armory. Taking the lead, Kevin had already shouldered the M3 and aimed at the top of the arch bridge. Slowly walking, the brown-haired man aimed the M3's iron sights until Kevin caught sight of a monk armed with a crossbow. His crossbow had been loaded with a bolt that had a burning arrowhead.<p>

"Great. They're trying to go medieval on us..." Kevin murmured, complaining while he fired the M3 twice at the monk until he saw him fall from the top of the arch bridge to the ground.

The ex-SPD officer saw Sho approach the downed monk and stabbed him at the back of his head.

"Ow..." Kevin winced, seeing Sho stab the ninjato's kissaki. "Painful much?"

"Better to be on the safe side than to be sorry at all." Sho replied, whipping Lightning Light on the side a few time to remove the blood from the ninjato's blade.

"Okay then..." Kevin shrugged as the group moved on down the path.

* * *

><p>Storage Room, somewhere near Armory, Inner Curtain Wall, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>The only door leading to the storage room was kicked open, making Kevin take the lead in securing the storage room as he aimed the M3 inside. Jill joined up with him and aimed her sidearm. Eriko, Fujino and Sho got inside to visually inspect the room to see if hostiles were inside.<p>

"All is clear." Sho advised Kevin. "Just a tresure chest and some wooden shelves and barrels."

"Alright." Kevin sighed as he lowered his M3. He caught sight of a red barrel nearby, which had a white exclamation point painted inside a white triangle.

"Better be careful of that." Jill pointed the red barrel to Kevin.

"Can't imagine the last time I saw one of those."

"Yeah. Back in Raccoon City, those things sure came in handy."

"You need to look at this right away." Eriko called for Kevin and Jill to see her.

Kevin and Jill noted the treasure chest, which was not open yet.

"Is it locked?" Kevin asked.

"I made some checks." Fujino told Kevin. "It's not locked and it's not hooked to a booby trap of any kind."

"That's a relief." Jill sighed in relief before she asked the next question. "There anything else we can take from this room?"

"We found a few items." Eriko answered Jill, telling her what she found in the room. "Among the items collected include a Green Herb and a Velvet Blue."

"Perfect. Least I can have the Green and Red herbs combined together later on."

"The only thing left for us to do is to open this treasure chest and acquire the spoils for our use."

"Perhaps I can open this chest." Eriko suggested as she started to approach the chest.

"But..." Kevin began to protest. Except that Jill started to cut him off.

"Let Eriko do it." Jill said, pointing a finger at Kevin before she pointed at the M3 he was porting. "Besides, you got a shotgun. Who knows if some crazed up monk could attack us from the back?"

"You got a point, Jill." Kevin said, shouldering and aiming the M3 at the red explosive barrel while Eriko started to open up the treasure chest. The Japanese detective was relieved to see that the chest was not booby trapped to injure or kill her.

"There's a key inside." Eriko told everyone inside the storage room after she completely opened the treasure chest's lid.

"Could it be the key to open the main double doors?"

"We'll have to see about that."

As soon as Eriko pocketed the key, Kevin stared at the door and swore that he heard some chanting and feet shuffling.

"Get ready guys." Kevin said, making a quick check on the M3 to make sure it had been loaded. The brown-haired man loaded two buckshot rounds into the M3's ejection port.

Jill stood next to Kevin and aimed her sidearm at the door. Eriko aimed her sidearm at the red barrel after the door was kicked open.

"Fire only when they're near the barrels!" Kevin advised Eriko, aiming for one of the monks that just came inside the storage room. He casually introduced the monk to a couple of buckshot rounds to the chest, sending him down to the ground.

"Eriko, now!" Jill shouted after she fired her sidearm at a monk at the chest before directing a shot to his forehead to stop him for good.

"Okay." Eriko nodded and fired her sidearm at the red barrel. After she fired twice, the barrel exploded. The explosion took out a total of three monks that got inside the storage room.

"Go! Go! Go!" Kevin yelled, stopping to pick up two boxes of shotgun shells while Eriko scooped up the 1,800 pesetas she found.

* * *

><p>Outside Storage Storage Room, en route to main double doors, Inner Curtain Wall, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>After Kevin was the first to exit the storage room, he found a couple of monks waiting for him and the others with flails at the ready. He fired the M3 at them, hitting them in the chest before firing a few more at their heads.<p>

"We're clear for now! Let's hurry!" Jill shouted, following close behind Kevin to watch his back.

The five-man team moved out from the storage room with the door key in tow, moving fast before more enemies could show up to harass them.

* * *

><p>Near side entrance, Inner Curtain Wall, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"It's been only a few minutes and I'm hearing gunshots..."<p>

Leon murmured as he and the others who remained behind with him and Ashley awaited for the return of Kevin and his team for anything they can use to open up the double doors in front of them.

"What the heck is happening?" Martin stared at the door Kevin used to enter when he heard shotgun blasts from the other side.

"Be on your guard, everyone." Leon said, slowly reaching for his Silver Ghost in case hostiles would come bursting through the door.

"Yo!" Kevin came running out of the door, tossing Leon his M3. In return, Leon tossed Kevin his SSG P IV.

"What happened?" Cammy asked Kevin and team after returning back to meet them.

"We..." Kevin panted for a few seconds before he continued. "We got a door key."

"To the locked doors?"

"I have it with me." Eriko showed the door key to Leon.

"Great." Leon nodded. "I can hardly wait to see what's on the other side of the locked doors."

"Stack up, people. Let's go!"

Everyone began to move in towards the locked doors while Eriko began her work to use the door key, inserting it into a keyhole. She then turned the key in a clockwise manner, hearing a faint clicking sound when she moved the key handle to the right.

"It's open." Eriko said, testing the door to see if it was open.

"Let's go."

Leon led the way, opening the door inside. He got inside the castle, aiming the M3 as he got inside. Cammy and Chun-Li offered to cover for Ashley as they were among the last to get inside.

* * *

><p>Audience Hall, somewhere inside Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>The group got inside Salazar Castle before Java closed the door from behind.<p>

"Wow..." Yu whistled. "This is one amazing castle."

_I'm getting goosebumps from just looking inside. _Jill took a few steps inside, trying to look around the foyer.

"Guess we should get up the stairs." Ashley pointed to the small staircase nearby.

"Given from how the foyer looks like..." Martin surmised. "Guess I'll have to agree with Ms. Ashley."

"Come on." Kevin told the group. "We need to move."

Leon nodded in agreement with him and together, the entire group moved up the staircase slowly in order to avoid any traps or enemies.

"I don't like this silence." Hiryu murmured, taking the side.

"Me too, bro." Hien told Hiryu, walking slowly beside him.

Sho looked up as they walked up the staircase to see there was a small balcony above them.

Just then, the group suddenly heard someone laughing from above.

"Who the heck's laughing?" Jean said, not liking the way the laughter was done.

"It seems we're about to receive the castle's master." Tea calmly told Jean.

Leon and company followed Tea's advise, looking towards the balcony above and saw someone of small height walking on the balcony. He was flanked by two tall men wearing red and black robes, which covered everything including their heads. The group also noted that the small man was wearing what looked like Napoleon-era clothing.

"I was... starting to wonder when you might notice us." The small man greeted his "guests".

"Who the hell are you?" Yu snarled at the small man.

"Oh my. I have a rude guest." The small man said. "Allow me to introduce myself. Me llamo Ramon Salazar the 8th Castellan of this magnificent architecture."

"How's about I say it's not a pleasure to meet you and we're not enjoying the Spanish hospitality of your castle?" Hiryu mocked Ramon, pointing a finger at him.

Ramon sighed and shook his head. "I never thought that I have another rude guest with me. Regardless, I have been honored with the prestigious power from the great Lord Saddler. I've been expecting you my brethren."

"No thanks bro." Leon said, who just glared at him.

Ramon continued to grin and stare at the group from below. "My my, we've got a feisty one. If you care for your own well being, I suggest you surrender yourself and simply...become our hostage. Or Mr. Scott, you can give us the girl, since you're not worth a penny I'm afraid. You can die."

Ashley shouted at Ramon. "I'm never turning into one of them, never!"

The group could hear Ramon laughing for a while before it faded.

"Now you're talking." Kevin gave Ashley the thumbs up. "Now we better move and get out of here before..."

The ground was shaking and before the group knew what was going up, something was rising up to block the pathway up ahead.

"Great. Another puzzle." Martin groaned. "Why can't we just chop this up to pieces?"

"Because we can't." Leon reminded Martin. "Who knows if destroying it the easy way could spring a trap or two?"

"Oh, all right."

"Our castellan host appears to be quite young." Chun-Li commented. "And his physical features don't look appear to be normal at all."

"Agreed." Cammy shared Chun-Li's concern. "I have some feeling that the parasite may be responsible for that."

Tea approached the puzzle slab that blocked their way and began to study it, seeing that something was missing from it.

"Anything?" Jean asked, waiting for Tea to finish up whatever she was doing.

"A puzzle." Tea pointed to the missing pieces. "I approximate at least three puzzle pieces are needed to remove this slab."

"Looks like some kinda goat creature or something." Kevin observed, looking at the outline. "I'm not sure."

"Be sure to arm yourselves, ladies and gentlemen." Leon told his allies, who had been given shotgun shells by Kevin a while ago.

"I'll go and scout the room." Sho advised the blonde DSO agent. While Leon and anyone else with a gun began to check if their weapons were fully loaded, Sho hurled some shurikens up on the wall behind, seeing some sparkle. He immediately dashed and picked up a Purple Gem. This followed by shuriken throws at the vases, picking up a box of 7.62 NATO subsonic bullets and a Velvet Blue with some 5.56 NATO ammo. The ninja gave the subsonic ammo to Kevin, the Velvet Blue to Tea and the 5.56 ammo to Jill since she was already armed with a Heckler and Koch SL8-4.

"All done?" The ninja asked.

"We split up." Leon debriefed the group. "We can't waste any time in exploring one area or another if we're together."

"Let's do this." Hiryu suggested. "How's about a game of roshambo? That way we can determine who goes where."

Leon sighed. "All right. Guess it's better than making arguments all night long."

"Okay mate. Best two out of three."

Hiryu wiggled his right gloved hand since he would challenge Leon to two of three roshambo matches. First match was won by Leon, with him using scissors and Hiryu doing paper. Second was won by Hiryu, who used rock to protect himself from Leon using the same scissor act. For the third match, Leon won by using paper to defeat Hiryu's rock.

"Looks like you lost, mate." Dan told Hiryu.

"Never thought there would be an American who's good in roshambo."

"Heh. Never hurts to have some practice." Leon said, taking a glance at Kevin. Kevin, for his part, tried not to look at Leon.

"So what now?"

"I've checked the other door." Sho told the group. "The left door is somehow not opening up, which means it's locked."

"Then to door number two then." Kevin said, pointing to the other door with his thumb. "But wait. How are we doing this again?"

"It's simple." Leon told Kevin, patting his right shoulder. "My group will take the lead. You guys cover our butts."

"I-uhh..." Kevin sighed, scratching the back of his head. "I guess that's fair enough."

"Well then." Cammy spoke up. "Shouldn't we be moving then?"

* * *

><p>Hallway, somewhere in Salazar's Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>When the group entered the right door, Leon first noted that the hallway they were in was not like any other hallway he saw. For a castle like the Salazar Castle, it looked quite extravagant.<p>

"Let's go scout the area and make sure it's clear." Leon began to give out orders, already arming himself with the M3.

"I can go with you." Eriko said, her sidearm at the ready.

The two then moved ahead, leaving the others behind for the meantime.

"The others secure this area and make sure Ashley's fine."

"Right." Kevin said, already making way for the bluish door he saw, trying to open it up. When the sniper tried to open it, he frowned and observed that the door was firmly locked.

"Anything?" Hien asked Kevin.

"It's locked. We'll probably need a key to open this up."

"But what's down there..." Dan pointed to the open basement prison. "in that prison?"

Kevin got his SSG P IV at the ready, positioning himself by placing the sniper rifle's bipod on top of a long cabinet table. Peering through the Leupold scope, the brown-haired man saw someone was chained up behind a prison cell.

* * *

><p>Leon and Eriko got into the other part of the hallway, seeing two horse statues flanking each side of the hallway. The bad news is that the horses were spewing out flames from its nostrils.<p>

"Great. Now we're in a dead end." Leon sighed, seeing the flames blocking the way.

Eriko observed the painting. But the more she stepped closer, the more she was suspicious of it.

The black-haired woman swore that there was something embedded in the painting.

"Something you find?" Leon asked Eriko, seeing her check the painting.

"I... think so." Eriko ran her fingers in the painting, feeling the shape of a key. "There's something I got, embedded on the painting."

"A key?"

"Yeah."

Eriko grabbed the key and pocketed it.

"Come on, Eriko. We need to go back and talk to the others."

* * *

><p>Makeshift Electronics Room, Unknown Facility<p>

* * *

><p>"And there you have it." Octavia told her "allies" on her work. "From what I've been told by my subordinates in the CIHL, the jamming devices I brought with me are effectively making the Salazar Castle and everything else beyond this place a dead zone for communications going in and out of this area."<p>

The blonde woman showed off some high-tech electronics, which are not easily described by a lot of words. They appeared to be based on technology made from alien tech CIHL had acquired in the past. Several portable boxes with antennas are hooked up to a few tower servers. A few desktop PCs were also operational, used by CIHL officers in establishing a wide area jamming zone.

Or at least what Octavia claimed.

"Quite the tech you got here, Octavia." Krauser took the time to observe the makeshift electronics she set up, watching CIHL personnel monitor jamming areas in the castle and beyond while checking on the status on jamming any spy satellites from observing the castle from space.

"Ms. Octavia." A CIHL officer called for her attention, who was wearing the standard red and white CIHL uniform and helmet. "We're able to block out American FOS attempts to sabotage our jamming. Even the CIA couldn't break through with the best hackers they have in their payroll." The CIHL officer was monitoring the status of the room, which was operating at 100% efficiency status.

"Excellent. Keep up the good work."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Now we have the tactical advantage here." Geki said, feeling excited for an upcoming fight.

"Indeed." Kei added, cracking her knuckles.

* * *

><p>Hallway, somewhere in Salazar's Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"Yo!" Leon ran back to see the others with Eriko. "We got ourselves a key."<p>

"Then it seems it'll open the door to the basement prison." Kevin said, still peering through the Leupold scope. "But I suggest that you have to be careful."

"And why's that?"

"Because the basement prison's housing someone." Kevin began to explain. "Someone who's been blind, but restrained. I suspect that since he doesn't appear to have any eyes, the prisoner could use his hearing and probably other senses to compensate." He then added. "It looks like his eyes are stitched up or something."

"Disgusting." Diana said, who heard the comment from Kevin. She felt her skin crawl, given the current situation.

"That's quite scary." Leon said as he swallowed his saliva. "So how we do it?"

"I volunteer." Sho stepped forward, telling Leon. "Just hand me the key to the basement prison and I can do the rest from there."

Jill joined up with Kevin, aiming the SL8-4 at the prison cell. "We got you covered."

"My thanks."

Sho approached the door leading to the basement prison cell, unlocking the door before disposing of the key as it was no longer needed.

* * *

><p>Basement Prison, Hallway, somewhere in Salazar's Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Sho slowly descended down the steps to the basement prison, under close watch of Kevin and Jill with their rifles trained on the only prison cell. The ninja looked at the prison grounds and saw two bells placed near the cell.<p>

"Bells?" The ninja was confused with their presence. "Why would someone need bells?"

Then Sho stared at the restrained prisoner inside the cell.

"Hmmm." Sho murmured. "I see."

He slowly drew out Lightning Light, remembering that the prisoner's eyes were all stitched up that he uses hearing and other senses to compensate for his lack of sight.

"Then I will need to tread here carefully."

The ninja slowly walked towards the prison cell, having a closer took at the restrained prisoner. Sho was a bit apprehensive as he made his approach, knowing that he could be attacked at anytime.

Sho was now in front of the prison cell, standing in front of the restrained prisoner.

* * *

><p>Hallway, somewhere in Salazar's Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"Do you think he'll be okay?"<p>

Ashley asked Diana as the former saw anyone armed with a small arm positioning themselves by aiming their weapon in front of the prison cell where Sho is currently positioned.

"I know Sho." Fujino tried to reassure the First Daughter. "He is one of SHADOW's best combat instructors. I trust Sho-sensei with my life. And so do Dan-san and the others."

"Let's just hope he can get out of there alive." Diana told Fujino, not sure of how things are going to go from there.

* * *

><p>Basement Prison, Hallway, somewhere in Salazar's Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Sho carefully reached his right hand to the prison cell door, noting that it was not locked.<p>

"Strange." Sho murmured. "The door's not locked at all." While he slowly pushed the door inward, the ninja caught sight of a lever inside the cell.

_Dammit! So there is a reason why it's inside...  
><em>

Sho executed a double backflip when the prisoner, aka the Garrador, started to break free of his wall restraints. He heard the masked prisoner growl out loud while showing off its metal claws.

_I have an idea on how we can deal with this nuisance._

Sho readied a shuriken in his left hand, eyeing the left bell. With his sights on the object, Sho quickly hurled the shuriken at the bell.

The ninja saw his actions had worked. The blind prisoner lashed out at the bell, charging towards it while stabbing the wall near the bell with his right claw.

He saw the parasite that was lodged at the prisoner's back, which makes a big target for Kevin and Jill. He heard a slight echo from above, which meant that Jill had fired her SL8-4. Even though Sho couldn't hear Kevin's SSG P IV fire since it had a silenced barrel, he was sure that the brown-haired DSO agent had fired his weapon at the exposed parasite.

"RRRHAAAAAA!"

The prisoner roared, lashing out at the air with his claws. This made Sho use his shuriken once more to hit the right bell in order to distract him.

"GGHRRRRA!"

Like the last time, the trick still worked. The claw-armed prisoner made a beeline for the right bell and pierced the wall once again with its claws. He also had a hard time getting them removed from the wall, giving Sho the opportunity to attack.

"Now..." Sho whispered as he made a leap towards the prisoner's back. Sho grappled with the prisoner by using his left arm to hold onto his neck while he positioned himself next to the parasite.

_Here goes._

Sho made a hard stab at the parasite, noticing the prisoner try to break free from Sho's hold. Knowing that it was just a matter of time before the prisoner is dead for good, Sho was about to execute another stab when he was forced to let go.

While the ninja fell down, he rebouded by executing a flip to make sure he landed on his feet. He also got Lightning Light back in his right hand, which was good.

_Let's try to distract the monster..._

Sho began to run around the prison, earning the prisoner's attention by running after him while listening to the ninja's feet.

While running, Sho did a double jump to make him land on one of the wooden beams above. When he landed on it, he saw that there was a box of shotgun shells on it.

_Who's crazy enough to place this here?_

* * *

><p>Hallway, somewhere in Salazar's Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Jill and Kevin monitored the fight between Sho and the prisoner through their Leupold riflescopes.<p>

"Should we shoot?" Jill asked Kevin, ready to fire the SL8-4 if need be.

"Hold on." Kevin said, carefully adjusting his aim so that his SSG P IV is aimed at the prisoner's parasite. "Okay, let's go and take down that monster."

"I'm ready."

"Got it."

Kevin began to give the countdown while watching the prisoner walk slowly around the pillar with his back exposed.

"One, Two and Three..."

Kevin fired first, watching the 7.62 NATO subsonic bullet crash into the parasite, making the prisoner kneel after getting shot in the back. Jill did her work, firing a 5.56 NATO bullet into the parasite.

"All right!" Kevin pumped his fist to the air as the prisoner collapsed on his knees before he fell down to the floor. He then flipped the bipod up, knowing that his job was done.

* * *

><p>Basement Prison, Hallway, somewhere in Salazar's Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Sho, still holding onto Lightning Light, examined the corpse of the Garrador to see if he left anything behind that may be useful.<p>

"Gold bars?"

The ninja was confused, especially with a restrained prisoner like him having gold bars on his person. Regardless, Sho decided to pick them up and store them until he can meet with Tea upstairs.

"This is becoming more confusing than the last time."

Sho approached the empty cell, this time walking towards the lever. Gripping the lever, Sho pulled it down hard until he could hear a clicking sound. When he removed his hand, Sho saw that the lever was positioned at the bottom and locked there permanently.

"Now to leave this infernal place..."

Sho began to run back to the stairs, seeing that the door was already unlocked.

* * *

><p>Hallway, somewhere in Salazar's Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>By the time Sho had got back up, Martin and Java began to loot the area they were in for any ammo or herbs they can collect.<p>

"Try to search for any hidden items behind paintings!" Eriko advised Martin, checking around for anything the group can use later on.

"Right!" Martin shouted before he told Java. "Java, go check the painting of Saddler and see if there's something hidden behind it."

"Java know." Java nodded, marching towards Saddler's painting. When the caveman lifted the painting to check the rear, he saw that there was a gold bar behind it. Delighted to see something behind it, Java had no problem gripping both sides of the painting before he threw it away like it was some piece of garbage.

"Nice find, Java." Diana saw what Java did, inspecting the hiding place to see some gold bars. These gold bars are worth 5,000 pesetas if sold to the Merchant later on.

"An interesting hiding place." Tea said as she saw the hiding place instead of Saddler's painting. "No one would ever expect that the master of this castle would just hide gold bars in plain sight."

"How quaint." Cammy said, looking at the discarded Saddler painting. The only thing the Delta Red operator did was to step on Saddler's face hard with her left foot. The blonde woman watched the combat boot tear through the painting.

There was some chanting the group heard beyond the hallway, which alarmed Leon and Kevin as usual.

"We're getting uninvited guests." Leon said after Sho handed him the shotgun shells.

"Of the monk variety?" Kevin asked after he slung his SSG P IV and instead, drew out his Glock 21 Mariner.

"Looks like it."

* * *

><p>MOM's Office, The Center<p>

* * *

><p>MOM began to read over reports filed by the SID and handed to her by Billy before he was summoned elsewhere in the Center. The black-haired woman and leader of the anti-supernatural black ops agency was alarmed that with the best hacker and alien equipment they had, the Center was not able to penetrate the jamming zones the CIHL had established in order to isolate Leon and the others from making contact with the outside world.<p>

"I wonder who could be behind all this?"

MOM pondered the suspects responsible for getting the jamming zone established in rural Spain. She knew that unless Los Illuminados was able to corrupt and make an entire intelligence agency go rogue against the government they're trying to help, MOM surmised that it may be a group with access to high-tech weapons and equipment.

"Could it be... the CIHL?"

MOM thought of the possibility of CIHL's involvement. But she remembered that she personally led anti-CIHL operations with the Special Reaction Squad spearheading raids to shut down both their covert bases and arrest their high-ranking leaders. That happened right after Diana was cured of any mutations caused by Octavia when the former was a CIHL operative.

"No. It can't be." MOM frowned. "Unless she was really in hiding when the SRS raided a college campus that was a front for the CIHL..."

She decided to make contact with the SID ASAP.

**"Yes, MOM?"**

MOM replied via headset. **"I want to make a check if there are any CIHL facilities that are still intact."**

**"Understood, MOM. I'll ask for an immediate satellite sweep."  
><strong>

* * *

><p>Hallway, somewhere in Salazar's Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Leon and Kevin had their sidearms at the ready the moment they saw three monks appear in the hallway.<p>

"Hey Leon." Kevin said, gesturing to the red lamp fixed above the ceiling via chains. "Look there."

"A red lamp." Leon replied, nodding. "Let's go and try that."

"Sure thing."

The two DSO agents saw two of the three monks charge them. When they did this, Leon shouted to the others to keep back. Kevin aimed the Glock 21 Mariner's iron sights.

He calmly fired the pistol, making two .45 ACP bullets crash onto the red lamp. Its flammable contents spilled out of the broken lamp and onto the two monks. Kevin kept up the assault, shooting his Austrian-made pistol at the burning monks until they collapsed due to the flames burning their entire bodies.

The third monk slowly approached the group, but only slowly due to the flames that were burning the monk's bodies. Taking the opportunity to strike back, Cammy and Chun-Li decided to take the initiative by charging the lone monk.

"Spiral Arrow!" Cammy charged first after the flames died down, launching herself like a projectile in a corkscrew manner. This made the monk collapse after he was hit in the chest.

"HAAAAAHHHH!" Chun-Li made a running start after Cammy knocked down the third monk, she stopped in time to execute a somersault.

"What's she doing?" Ashley asked no one, curious about the move Chun-Li's about to make.

"HAZANSHU!" The Chinese Interpol yelled, using her outstretched left leg to smack the downed monk's head. But for this case, the monk's head was completely destroyed in the attack. She executed a backflip afterwards, anticipating an attack.

"That went well." Leon commented, seeing all the corpses of the downed monks dissolved into nothing.

Chun-Li sighed when she saw her left boot had some blood in it.

"Great. Blood."

"So um..." Hiryu saw Martin and Java were done searching the area. "What did you guys find?"

"Not plenty..." Martin began before he told him of the items he and Java found. "But Java and I found some 9mm bullets, 7.62 bullets, 5,000 pesetas in gold bars, 800 pesetas and an incendiary grenade."

"Quite a list." Hiryu then said. "Although I'm a bit surprised that we've got that much pesetas."

"Not anymore." Yu spoke up. "I've checked where the monks' corpses were suppose to be. They left behind 1,500 pesetas."

"I was able to get this message." Eriko showed up with a piece of paper in her left hand. "It was stuck on the wall and just left there."

"With what?" Leon asked.

"Tape. Tape that wouldn't be able to make it stick there for long."

"What does the message say?"

"Hold on. I'll read it over."

Eriko began to read over what the message had said from Spanish:

**I have confirmation that Sera has entered the castle. Why he would return during his escape leave me to question his motives. But we must seize the moment and capture him. **

**We will get the others after we apprehend Sera. It appears he took some vaccines when he stole our "sample". The vaccines we can do without, but we must retrieve the "sample" for it is our life blood. I feel there is somebody else or some other group involved in this whole affair.  
><strong>

**If the "sample" were to get into the hands of the other entity, the world which we seek to create will not come. We must apprehend Sera as quickly as possible.  
><strong>

"So there is a cure after all." Tea commented after Eriko read the message. "And it seems we're priority number 2 until they capture Luis."

"The question is," Jean began his question. "where is the cure and if Luis is responsible for holding them?"

"Looks like our cult is still obsessed with creating their own world." Dan sighed after hearing the message. "And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why I despise religious cults of all types. You never knew when the leaders will start going nuts."

"At this point, I don't think they're nuts at all." Kevin countered Dan's suggestion. "With the technology and the help they're getting, it seems the vision of their ideal world's going to be a reality unless we get rid of them for good."

_Is Ada helping Los Illuminados?  
><em>

Leon began to wonder about the Chinese-American spy he met back in the last days of Raccoon City before it was destroyed by missiles launched by the US Military.

_And if she is, do I have to kill her?_

* * *

><p>Somewhere in Salazar's Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"Aaa-hacmp..."<p>

Ada almost sneezed when she was infiltrating Salazar Castle by traveling down one of the castle's many hallways, gripping her Springfield Armory XD pistol.

"Dammit, I still can't get through Wesker." The Chinese-American was very frustrated that her smart phone can't either get a signal or make a call to Wesker's hideout, wherever it is.

She continued down the hallway, stopping to peek around the corner.

_No one so far. Let's hope this continues. _

Ada kept her smartphone while using both of her hands to hold the XD's pistol grip firmly.

The black-haired woman was on the move, cursing to herself why she wore high heels for the operation when she could have worn something else instead.

* * *

><p>Hallway, somewhere in Salazar's Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"We need to check ahead."<p>

Kevin offered to check ahead. Jean would back him up with Hiryu helping out. The trio moved out, about to turn left on the reverse L-shaped hallway corner when Kevin spotted a couple of monks wearing black hoods, armed with crossbows that had flaming bolt arrowheads.

"Ah, shit..." Kevin shouldered the SSG P IV when he saw another monk come between the crossbow-armed monks, about to light up a piece of dynamite.

"Dynamite..." Hiryu muttered, hearing the hissing sound coming from the dynamite when the fuse has been lit up.

"Not on my watch." Kevin took aim at the monk's dynamite that was held in his right hand. Kevin grinned when he fired the SSG P IV, watching the bullet tear the dynamite into many pieces. This also resulted in an explosion that took out all three monks since they were near one another.

"Okay. This area's clear." Kevin told Jean and Hiryu, still holding onto his weapon. "You two check up ahead, but be careful."

"Right." Jean said, aiming his SPAS-12 while slowly moving forward onto the next area. Hiryu covered the French Spriggan, slowly walking backwards to ensure any surprise attacks would be dealt with.

Tea stayed behind, collecting 1,200 pesteas each from where the corpses of the crossbow-armed monks were.

* * *

><p>Adam Benford's Office, DSO Headquarters, somewhere in the United States of America<p>

* * *

><p>Adam was now back in his office when he heard a knock coming from Bruce, who peeked inside.<p>

"Bruce." Adam greeted Bruce without looking at him, concentrating on his paperwork.

"So, sir..." Bruce began to ask, still peeking inside the office. "Are we gonna do a rescue..."

"That's out of the question, Bruce." Adam seized whatever he was doing and eyed the blonde DSO agent. "Leon, Kevin and the First Daughter have been infected by a a parasite created by Los Illuminados."

"Jesus..." Bruce murmured.

"And the two requested for the evacuation to come later since they want to purge the parasite out of their system."

"Boy, I wish I can help those two in Spain."

"Well we can't. FOS informed me that the cult made a jamming zone in their territory."

"But how?"

"That's the thing. Analysts believe that the cult's receiving help from mercenaries or from some covert agency."

"I do remember that I heard of another anti-paranormal agency..." Bruce began to ramble off before he scratched his head. "It's not the Center, but I know it starts with the letter C."

"Hmmm..." Adam pondered on what Bruce had said to him. "I think I may know the agency you're talking about, Bruce."

"You do, sir?"

Adam nodded. "I'll have analysts run that down. At least we'll know who we're dealing with."

* * *

><p>Hallway, somewhere in Salazar's Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Jean and Hiryu passed by the horse statues and into the end of the hallway, which had a square-shaped room.<p>

"Jean! On the left!"

However, there were a couple of monks waiting for them. One of them was going for his dynamite while the other was unarmed.

"Shit..." Jean cursed. "Get back!"

Hiryu got away as Jean fired the SPAS-12 a few times at the recently lit dynamite. He fired a few times until the dynamite exploded, taking both monks out. The force of the explosion forced Jean onto the floor.

"You alright?!" Hiryu came to check on Jean.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Jean waved him off when he got up. "Tell the others that the coast is clear."

"It's clear!" Hiryu yelled.

Jean looked around to see if he can get anything useful. He spied on a box of .45 ACP bullets on a ledge between two pillars.

Kevin and the others came running down after they were told that the last two enemies were taken care of. Here, Jean tossed the box of .45 ACP bullets to Kevin, who accepted it.

"Are the doors locked?" Leon asked Jean.

"Not that we found any keys lying around here."

Kevin, in the meantime, began to reload with whatever .45 ACP bullets he can muster for his Glock 21 Mariner.

"I'll go check." Fujino said as she approached the double doors. She gripped the ring handle and noted that they were not locked. "It's not locked!"

"Give me a second." Kevin said as he ported the SSG P IV. He then directed Java. "Mind getting the door open?"

Java nodded, walking towards the door and opening it just as Kevin began to kneel down with his right knee on the ground. He shouldered his SSG P IV and propped it alongside his left leg.

"Hold for now until I can loosen things up." Kevin said when he peered through the Leupold scope, seeing a monk with red garbs and a couple monks wearing black hoods. They were also armed with the same crossbows and flaming bolt arrowheads.

_Here goes nothing._

Kevin fired a shot at the red monk, watching his head explode. He kept his cool and waited for the venus flytrap-like parasite to show up from its neck. He then took another shot, killing him. The brown-haired man kept firing, killing the crossbow-wielding men. Each time he fired the SSG P IV, Kevin pulled the bolt and worked it until he could push it back. Round after round was fired from the silenced sniper rifle, killing any of the monks he could see in his scope.

When his 10-round magazine was empty, Kevin shouted to Leon that he and the others needed to get inside the other side of the door and clear it before enemy reinforcements show up.

And Leon just did that. Kicking the door, he shouldered the M3 and aimed for the nearest monk. The ex-SPD officer fired his shotgun at a monk wielding a wooden shield until the shield was broken. Hiryu assisted him by firing his Heckler & Koch G36C at the monk until he was downed.

The others came running inside, beginning another fight to secure the room for themselves.

Chapter 13 END

* * *

><p>PS - Let's see... Chapter 13's at an end, folks. And I got Ghost Recon: Future Soldier in the mail and I'm enjoying it a heck of a lot, especially with the custom gunsmith feature. Now perhaps I'll go and pick up the Japanese version to hear the new voices... Anyway, sorry for the late post. Was busy and lazy, trying to rest from uni stuff. I was also thinking on a Super Robot Wars story that may or may not work since I'm thinking on adding another plot from another game franchise.<p>

If you guys enjoyed reading and reviewing this story, please take the time to do the same for Peacekeepers since it's my other currently written story as well.

Also I've heard that the DSO was officially created in 2011, according to Word of God stuff released for Resident Evil 6, but I'm tweaking it a bit so that the organization was created in the late 90s that got a start in the 21st century.

I wish to point out that I'm describing parts of Sho's ninjato in Japanese terms, so go check wikipedia under the article "Glossary of Japanese swords" and "Japanese sword mountings" to know what I'm talking about (e.g. saya, kissaki, etc).

I also created a forum at the Super Robot Wars fanfiction category with a thread on plans for a story I had in mind, although I'm sure that I won't have the time to do it since I am trying to graduate from university as much as I can... But it would be thoughtful if I can get some feedback for it and in case someone does decided to pick it up for writing. I'm also discussing it in TV Tropes under the Fanfiction category with the the thread "All Purpose Super Robot Wars Fanfiction Thread". If you're a TT member and you'd like to check it out, feel free to head there.


	14. Interior Combat

Resident Evil/Biohazard: Hostage Rescue

Rating: T

NOTE:

All characters of Resident Evil/Captain Commando/Street Fighter are under the copyright of Capcom. All characters of Martin Mystery are under the copyright of Marathon. All characters of Kara no Kyokai are under the copyright of TYPE-MOON. All characters of Spriggan are under the copyright of Hiroshi Takashige and Ryoji Minagawa. All characters of Jiraishin are under the copyright of Tsutomu Takahashi. The appearance of Kenneth "Kenny" Feng is under noctorro's jurisdiction. All others are under my jurisdiction.

Summary:

Leon, Kevin and the others have been able to get inside Salazar Castle without much of a hitch. But with the monks in full force, fighting to keep the group occupied and capture Ashley for their master, will the team protect her safely from the grip of Los Illuminados and escape the area alive even without outside support? Stay tune to this chapter to find out.

Chapter 14: Interior Combat

* * *

><p>Ground Floor, Huge Foyer, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Leon and Jean were the first ones to enter the huge foyer, aiming and firing their shotguns at the monks wielding wooden shields. The buckshot shells gave them an advantage since it destroyed the shields a lot faster while the shotguns were fired at a semi-automatic rate. With the shields eventually destroyed, this left the monks no choice but to use their spiked flails as their only means of offense and defense.<p>

"Get them!"

Yu advanced to provide support, crouching and shouldering the Heckler & Koch G3A3. He then fired it at their heads in order to gun them down since from experience, shooting them in the chest is a waste of bullets. He wanted to use the incendiary grenade, but decided to hold onto it for now.

Everyone else with a small arm joined in to suppress resistance in the ground floor, firing their weapons until most of the monks were killed off. Diana and Fujino stayed close to Ashley in case a monk were to attack the group from the rear and take Ashley like some buried treasure back to his master. Sho stayed back as well, protecting Ashley from any harm.

Hiryu and Hien stuck to advancing on both sides of the foyer to the stairs, which led to the basement section. As they were about to come near the stairs, the metal doors slid up to reveal two more monks armed with flails and wooden shields.

"They just don't know when to quit." Kevin muttered as he and Jill went to work. Both of them crouched and aimed their sniper rifles at the shield-wielding monks' exposed legs to make them kneel. This allowed Cammy and Chun-Li to attack them by destroying their shields first before using unarmed combat.

"KIKOKEN!" Chun-Li yelled, using her ki-created projectiles to destroy the wooden shields. The Interpol officer went for a Hazanshu to decapitate the monk. But when he had a plaga exposed for his head, Kevin sniped the plaga out of commission. This killed off the monk permanently.

For Cammy's part, she went for the Axle Spin Knuckle. The first attack, which was her elbow, connected to the monk's left temple that he was dazed before a clenched fist was sent towards the monk's face. A Cannon Spike was subsequently executed, sending the monk flying before he landed hard on the tiled floor head first that he was already died from massive head injuries.

Hiryu and Hien shrugged and moved on to secure the last parts of the ground floor.

* * *

><p>Basement Floor, Huge Foyer, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Leon and Eriko were the first individuals to arrive at the foyer's basement floor, only finding a couple of vases with a monk wandering around. Unlike the others, his head was not covered by a hood.<p>

"Stay behind me." Leon raised the Benelli M3 and fired a couple of buckshots at the monk, sending him down to the ground while the vases nearby were broken due to the buckshots. When the DSO agent approached the downed monk, he aimed the M3 again to fire a couple of buckshots to ensure that he was dead.

Hien greeted Leon when he went down the stairs leading to the basement.

"Good thing you're here." Leon spoke to the masked Spriggan, grabbing the hand grenade and a box of 7.62 NATO subsonic bullets from the remains of the broken vases. "I need a hand here."

"For what?"

Leon pointed to the metallic door next to him.

"I see."

Leon and Hien stacked up next to it. The former checked the door if it can be opened. Afterwards, the blonde man kicked it open and aimed the M3's barrel inside. Hien secured the rear before he followed him inside.

* * *

><p>Small Room, Basement Floor, Huge Foyer, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>When Leon and Hien got inside, the two found that there were two yellow stepping pads at the back of the room. Aside from those, the room looked plain normal with a table at the back of the room with chairs.<p>

"Looks pretty normal." Leon commented. "Except for the pads."

"Wonder what those do?" Hien asked himself.

"Why don't we find out?"

"And hope that it ain't a trap."

Both men decided to resign their actions to fate as they heard more automatic gunfire from the outside with some of their allies yelling their attacks out.

"We better hurry." Leon said as he stepped on one of the pads. However, this allowed a couple of unarmed monks to leap down to the room.

"Where the hell did they come from?!" Hien said as he fired his Pindad SS1-M5 Commando, aiming the mounted red dot sight at their heads. Leon joined in and fired the M3 while he stood over the yellow pad.

Eventually, the two monks were gunned down. Hien moved back and stepped on the other yellow pad.

Suddenly, the two felt the room shake as if an earthquake was currently taking place.

"An earthquake?" Hien said, being too familiar with the feeling.

"I don't think so." Leon calmly replied. "Probably something that we need to use later on."

A few minutes later, the room had stopped shaking.

"Perfect." Leon said when he took a box of shotgun shells on the ground, reloading his M3. "It's stopped. We need to get out of here."

"Agreed." Hien told Leon.

Leon took the green herb before he departed with Hien. He took a good look up the ceiling and saw a 4x4 hole.

He made a mental note on how the monks were able to get inside the room.

* * *

><p>MOM's Office, The Center<p>

* * *

><p>MOM read over a recent report from the SID, stating that they weren't able to break through the jamming net used by Los Illuminados to ensure that the Salazar Castle and beyond are a dead zone for external communications. The report also suggested that a CIHL base may need to be raided in order to secure anything of value that they can use to disable the jamming net and make contact with the Center agents in Spain.<p>

"Dammit. So Octavia's pretty smart to work with Los Illuminados to get her alien tech used to establish a jamming net over the area." MOM muttered, who was now slowly feeling the brunt of the lack of comms with her field agents. "Even if I sent a SRS team down there, it'll make things worse."

The Center leader sighed and decided to drink her cup of coffee, hoping that her headache would eventually go away.

* * *

><p>Ground Floor, Huge Foyer, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Jill and Kevin had recently sniped the last of the hooded monks, who were armed with crossbows that had flaming bolt arrowheads on. Since no other monks were around, they declared the area to be "secured".<p>

At least until they decide to move again.

"Let's go and check what we can get from this area."

Tea, Martin and Java began to scour the area to see what they can procure. For starters, they found 1,600 pesetas, a box of 5.56 NATO bullets, another incendiary grenade and a box of shotgun shells from the remains of the broken big vases. Martin later found 2,000 pesetas exposed in a side table. The small vases netted 1,100 pesetas and a Velvet Blue. It was thanks to Java that they got the items from the vases when he used his caveman strength to break them without giving him so much as a scratch.

"We got the stuff!" Martin waved to the group.

"Who's going to handle that then?" Kevin pointed to the crank that just rose out of the ground.

"I can help." Ashley volunteered herself for the task.

"Alright, Ashley." Jill told the First Daughter. "You just pull the crank and we'll take care of the rest, okay?"

Ashley nodded before she got to work. The 5.56 NATO bullets was divided between Hiryu and Hien with the shotgun shells given to Jean. Kevin got the incendiary grenade from Java, the former thanking the caveman. For the others, Tea kept them as usual.

Leon and the others stayed near Ashley as she continued to work the crank. For a few minutes, it seemed nothing had work.

And then...

"The stairs are coming down." Dan pointed to the stairs behind him, which was coming down. It looked like to serve as the entrance to the next section of the huge foyer.

Until he spotted around four monks. Armed with scythes. And it looked like that they were sharpened and cleaned. Ready for a kill.

* * *

><p>Adam Benford's Office, DSO Headquarters, somewhere in Virginia, United States of America<p>

* * *

><p>"Excuse me, sir?"<p>

Adam's attention was called for when he was given a manila envelope with the words TOP SECRET stamped on it. He looked at the one who gave the envelope and noted that it was his secretary.

"Thank you." Adam thanked the secretary before the door was closed. He then went to work in getting a retractable cutter blade from one of the desk drawers and ripping the envelope from the top in order to obtain its contents and read them.

"Let's see what I got here?" The senior agent got a piece of paper that was apparently printed with a map of the continental United States with a X mark on the American East Coast.

* * *

><p>Second Floor, Huge Foyer, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"LOOK OUT!"<p>

Dan pointed out the incoming monks with scythes coming for them.

"Eat this." Jean said calmly as he blasted the monks with the Franchi SPAS-12 as the buckshots were fired rapidly in semi-auto mode. He continued to keep this up until the monks wearing black garb were red. He knew that the monk wearing red garb would try to put a fight before he died.

"IYAH!" Sho dashed in and stabbed the red monk in the neck before he was decapitated. The plaga then arose from the exposed neck, going about to attack the Ninja Commando when Kevin sniped the plaga from a short distance, killing the red monk.

When Sho turned around, he saw Kevin grinning at him while saluting him with a two-finger salute.

"Americans." Sho muttered, whipping Lightning Light on the side several times until the blood was removed before the ninjato was placed in its saya.

"Let's move!" Leon shouted, climbing the stairs up first before the others went with him up the stairs.

"Now what do we do?" Yu commented, trying to ask Leon.

"Over there." Diana pointed to what appeared to be a crank of the same type Ashley had used to get the stairs down.

"Looks like we got our ticket out of here, then." Martin commented.

"I suggest we search the area of anything we can use." Fujino raised a point to the group, which they agreed on unanimously.

"I shall go and search the area." Sho volunteered himself. "Give me a few minutes."

The ninja began to dash around, securing 1,000 pesetas, a box of 7.62 NATO bullets and a box of shotgun shells.

"It seems that there's not one, but two cranks on both sides of this floor." Sho told the group. "And there is no way for us to gain access to them."

"So what do we do?" Diana asked.

"Well the only way is to get someone to climb on someone's back." Martin suggested.

"If we can get two people to pull the cranks at the same time." Eriko then added. "We can get out of here faster. We just need to get volunteers to watch his or her back until the deed is done."

"I can go." Diana spoke up.

"Same here." Ashley joined in.

"Guess the next one is who's going to watch their backs." Dan then said to the others.

Silence loomed over the group for a few seconds. No one seemed willing to volunteer, even though they knew that Ashley and Diana needed protection.

"Oh well. I'll help for starters." Dan raised his hand, offering to volunteer.

"I'll do the same likewise." Yu did the same as well.

"All right." Leon nodded after hearing Dan and Yu volunteer. "At least we'll get some volunteers to watch Ashley and Diana when they're working on the cranks."

"Jill and I can provide some sniper cover." Kevin told Leon. "Just let me know when things are about to start, Leon."

"The rest of you, get ready for the incoming enemy." Leon told the others. "We don't know which direction they're going to come from."

Dan and Yu went to work, helping Ashley and Diana by piggybacking on their shoulders so that they can't get up on the ledge. Once the two teenagers were able to do so, they proceeded to run towards the cranks.

"Go! Go! Go!"

Kevin shouted as he and Jill moved up the small steps, breaking the big vases with the butt of the Steyr SSG P IV to receive a box of 7.62 NATO subsonic bullets and a box of shotgun shells, which he kept for later.

The others who had small arms at the ready stayed near Jill and Kevin, but out of their line of fire. Cammy and Chun-Li leaped up to the inaccessible platforms above. Sho did the same likewise, helping Fujino get up to the platform.

Tea had already been there first, although no one knew how she did it. Yu, Jean and Hien probably knew a thing or two regarding Tea's "true" heritage, but decided to keep quiet about it.

* * *

><p>Adam Benford's Office, DSO Headquarters, somewhere in Virginia, United States of America<p>

* * *

><p><em>What the heck is this?<em>

Adam was surprised to see the map of the United States with an X mark on it. He didn't know what to make of it until he decided to read the printed message that he found from the envelope.

**This may be an answer. The map provided is the place you should start checking.  
><strong>

Adam heard a message on the intercom, with the secretary telling him that Hunnigan needed to see him right away.

**"Send her in."**

The senior agent sighed and tried to make sense of the message. There was no way a foreign intelligence or law enforcement agency would know of the DSO's "true" mission.

"Sir." Hunnigan greeted Adam when she got in his office.

"Was there anything that FOS has received aside from this?" Adam asked Hunnigan, pointing to the map.

"Yes, sir." Hunnigan nodded. "We've gotten a coded transmission from an organization called the Center.

"The Center, huh?" Adam murmured. "I see."

"Is there something that I should know about?"

Adam nodded. "The Center is an anti-paranormal organization that was established before the DSO existed." He then continued to explained to the woman. "They're the ones who started anti-paranormal missions that involved either criminals or terrorists in the 1990s. In fact, they're originally took anti-Umbrella and anti-bioterrorist missions long before the BSAA was established under Federation of Pharmaceutical Companies supervision."

Hunnigan nodded, remember what she knew about the Center, aside from being called in to handle paranormal cases. "But why did the Center wish to contact us?"

"They probably had agents trapped in the jamming dead zone in Spain like ours." Adam answered. "In this case, they could be trying to feed us some information that can be useful to us."

"Which is why I think we need to mobilize our forces." Hunnigan said.

"Agreed." Adam nodded. "The map indicates something of importance in Virginia."

"Well the coded transmission FOS received indicates a group that supposedly does anti-paranormal operations aside from the Center."

"And does this organization have a name?"

"Yes, sir."

Hunnigan presented to Adam an unusual insignia. A black circle with a yellow hand and fingers taking hold of the planet Earth, colored in red.

"It's called the Creature Intelligence Hybrid Laboratory. Although we've been warned by Center intelligence that it's got a fake name, known as the Creative Institute for Higher Learning."

The name greatly earned Adam's interest.

* * *

><p>Second Floor, Huge Foyer, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>When Ashley and Diana began to pull the cranks, hordes of monks began to emerge out of the woodwork. Most of them were either unarmed or had crossbow armed with flaming bolt arrowheads. A few had wooden shields and spiked flails at the ready.<p>

"They're coming!" Kevin shouted out loud, kneeling before the monks came in to interrupt things. The ex-SPD officer went to work to provide cover for his allies, peering through the Leupold scope and aimed for any of their exposed heads.

"I'm on it." Jill told Kevin, shouldering the Heckler & Koch SL8-4 as she peered through her own Leupold scope.

Together, the two snipers gave the group cover, firing their sniper rifles as they made their shots count by the bullet. Their backs were against the small moat where another path was suppose to be, which led to another door up ahead. Jill didn't have any problems firing the SL8-4 since her sniper rifle was semi-automatic. Kevin's sniper rifle, had a bolt that needed to be operated on by pulling and pushing it to extract the bullet cartridge and load up a fresh one into the chamber. The brown-haired man didn't have a problem with this, given his awards back in the former RPD for his shooting skills.

"This ought to be easy." Kevin muttered, seeing that he and Jill delivered head shots to the monks around the second floors and those in the platforms trying to get Ashley and Diana away from the cranks.

Java stayed with Kevin and Jill in case the monks would try to attack them.

* * *

><p>Adam Benford's Office, DSO Headquarters, somewhere in Virginia, United States of America<p>

* * *

><p>"The CIHL, huh?"<p>

Adam uttered the abbreviation one more time.

"Is there something wrong, sir?" Hunnigan asked the senior agent.

"How come we never heard of this CIHL?" Adam questioned Hunnigan on the CIHL.

"They've only been a recent anti-paranormal organization." Hunnigan tried to answer. "The FOS doesn't have much information, but they've said to have recruited most of their agents from a few colleges that the Center listed to be fronts."

"How interesting."

"The Center has also presented us a list of colleges in the eastern part of the United States that are secretly known to be CIHL fronts."

"Do you have it?"

"Here you are."

Hunnigan handed Adam a printed piece of paper that showed the names of colleges in Virginia the Center reported to be CIHL fronts.

"Okay." Adam began to read over the list of names of colleges in Virginia. "Let's start with the ones nearby DSO at least..."

* * *

><p>Second Floor, Huge Foyer, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Dan and Yu kept Ashley and Diana under cover when the monks showed up, moving in to approach the two girls to prevent them from operating the cranks.<p>

"Don't stop! Keep going!" Dan informed Ashley, who kept the monks back by firing his Sig SG 552 Commando at them in full automatic mode.

"Okay!" Ashley kept pulling the crank with her of all strength.

Yu crouched behind Diana, firing his Heckler & Koch G3A3 at the monk from his position in full automatic mode. He killed as many monks as possible.

When they had to temporarily reload their weapons, Cammy, Chun-Li, Fujino and Sho engaged the monks in close quarters combat. Tea provided a distraction with her kerchiefs with pentagrams by dropping them to create illusions of winged lions. This scared off the monks by keeping their distance, allowing the four to have their kills without most chances of the monks fighting back efficiently.

Down at the ground, Hiryu, Hien, Leon and Jean provided close quarters support for Jill and Kevin since they were providing sniper support. They all agreed that they won't use any grenades they acquired unless they had been able to lift any kind of path from the moat.

"Now!" Dan said, firing the SG 552 in semi-auto mode after he reloaded at the monks at the ground level with the trio taking care of the monks in close quarters. Yu did the same thing, but kept the full automatic mode on.

The group was giving more than enough cover for Ashley and Diana to keep pulling the cranks until Kevin noticed that the platforms were slowly rising out of the moat water.

"Keep going!" Kevin shouted, executing a double kill with one shot when he scoped a couple of monks walking towards him with their heads lined up together.

Jill fired as many bullets as she can before she told Kevin to provide cover for her. The ex-STARS officer proceeded to reload by getting a fresh magazine and used her right thumb, keeping a grip on the fresh magazine to release the empty magazine from the SL8-4 after she pushed the magazine release. This allowed the empty magazine to fall down to the ground, making her reload quick and fast.

"You're clear to fire!" Kevin called for her attention, firing the SSG P IV to allow Jill time to pick up the empty magazine and keep it. He kept firing the sniper rifle until it was empty, reloading it with another magazine.

Behind the two snipers, the two platforms were almost done rising up from the moat water to the surface. Eventually, the platforms had locked into place when they fully rose to the surface.

"We're clear!" Jill shouted to her comrades when she took a glance from her back. "We got the platforms up from the moat surface! Move! Move! Move!"

Hiryu, Hien, Leon and Jean began to move backwards after being told that the platforms were raised up, hopping onto the first platform. They eventually were able to walk over the other platform and hopped over it to reach the other side of the floor, which had double wooden doors at the end.

Before Java moved across, he used his caveman strength to grab a couple of hooded monks by their necks and hurled them onto the moat water when they tried to rush Jill and Kevin. Since they weren't able to swim due to the plaga, it didn't allow them to preserve their lives since they were "programmed" to die for Saddler and for Los Illuminados.

"Move! Move!" Kevin shouted, providing fire support for Ashley and Diana to get to the other side. Dan and Yu got back with Kevin and fired at the monks to cover their escape. Sho joined in and used Lightning Light to kill a few more monks, allowing Cammy, Chun-Li and Fujino to go across the platforms.

Once the majority of the group had made it safely, Sho made it across the platforms while Dan and Yu moved backwards and continued firing their weapons. Java and Sho were the last ones to move across, being covered by Kevin and Jill.

"Thanks, big guy!" Kevin thanked Java for saving his life.

"Your welcome." Java replied to Kevin. He then moved it and pushed the double doors inward with ease.

However, a lucky shot from a crossbow bolt (Which by luck, didn't have its arrowhead burning) struck Kevin on his left arm. He staggered a bit in pain after he got hit. Yu and Leon conducted suppressive fire to cover Kevin's retreat before they did the same.

The group then got inside after the doors were opened. Since the monks were slowly making their approach towards the platforms for some reason, it gave them the opportunity to get away fast.

* * *

><p>Temple, Keep, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Java closed the double doors and locked it from behind the group when they got inside the keep's foyer. Most of the people in the group had temporarily spread out to cover much ground to prevent an ambush.<p>

Fujino took her time to observe the foyer. It had pillars in the middle with tall candlebras nearby and a red carpet that started from the doors down to the other side of the foyer, which had a hallway at the end. Marble statues of persons were seen in the foyer, except that they were positioned from the ceiling. A stairway was also visible, but the landing above was sealed off with a gate.

The foyer seemed to have a Renaissance-like feeling in terms of its architecture. In addition, the walls had a decaying appearance since most of the plaster (or paint, Fuino couldn't tell) looked very old without any signs of modernization or anything else that was done to keep the walls looking new.

"We're..." Martin began to pant, a bit tired from the running. "We're safe for now."

"Good to know, kid." Kevin politely retorted Martin's comments for being a bit obvious. "Good to know."

"Stand still, Kevin." Leon approached the slightly wounded Kevin. "And whatever you do, don't move. It'll make things worse."

Kevin nodded.

The blonde DSO agent came near Kevin and held his wounded arm tightly. Leon got a good grip on the bolt and removed it from Kevin's left arm.

"AAAAHHGGGGHHG!" Kevin yelled, gritting his teeth in pain.

"Here!" Jill tossed Leon the Tricell First Aid Spray, the latter catching it are taking the bolt off Kevin's arm. He told his DSO colleague to not move his arm while he began to apply the spray onto the wound.

"How much longer?" Kevin asked, feeling some pain in his left arm.

"In a while. Just hang on tight, Kevin." Leon assured Kevin, continuing to apply the spray towards the open wound.

"Whoa..." Yu mumbled before he gave a whistle. "Didn't know those monks were pretty good sharpshooters."

"Couldn't have said that myself." Leon said as he gradually stopped applying the spray to Kevin's wound.

"How's it look, Leon?" Kevin asked, somewhat not feeling the pain in his left arm.

"You..." Leon took a closer look at where the wound should be. He saw that the wound was not there and instead, it was healed. "You look pretty fine, Kevin. Wound's not there anymore."

"The wonders of medical science, huh?" Jill commented, watching Leon toss the spray away as it was now empty.

"Over there!" Jean pointed out to the group an area in the foyer. "I found the blue flame pillars again."

"The Merchant's here?" Chun-Li asked.

"We could use the time there to get some rest." Cammy advised. "Pretty sure most of us are pretty deadbeat over the fight back there."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

* * *

><p>Corridor, DSO Headquarters, somewhere in Virginia, United States of America<p>

* * *

><p>Bruce had just been summoned a while ago by Adam to lead DSO tactical teams in order to raid a community college somewhere in Virginia. This somehow raised a lot of "flags" in Bruce's head when he was debriefed by Hunnigan.<p>

"I don't like the idea that we're going to launch a raid into a community college somewhere in Virginia." Bruce stated out loud his dislike to Hunnigan, walking alongside him.

"I don't either." Hunnigan told Bruce. "But we've been given enough intel to suggest that this college is a front for a CIHL base."

"CIHL? What does that mean?"

"Creature Intelligence Hybrid Laboratory. But we've been told that it has a false name and it's publicly known as the Creative Institute for Higher Learning."

"Quite a name you got here, Hunnigan."

"Hey, it's not like I named that group anyway."

Bruce saw Hunnigan giving him a glare, complete with a raised eyebrow.

"Okay, I'll believe you."

* * *

><p>Temple, Keep, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"Ah! We meet again, strangahs!"<p>

This was becoming one of the Merchant's standard greetings for his "guests". "Guests" who were apparently been meant to die on Salazar's territory. He stood next to a blue door, which had a frame mounted on it with a bronze sculpture of two blunderbuss pistols aka dragons.

"Hey..." Leon greeted the merchant. The others did the same likewise.

"I'd really like to know how you were able to move around even though we've met only hours ago." Sho was convinced that the Merchant could have been some kind of British ninja with some kind of ninja martial art he used to get around here.

"It's a trade secret, strangah." The Merchant told the ninja before he started to laugh.

"Ah, good." Tea spoke to the Merchant. "Now that you're here, I thought that we'd negotiate for selling our wares to you."

"To business as usual, strangah." The Merchant replied. "And what are you selling to me, strangah?"

Tea began to speak to the Merchant while as usual, Martin and Java were excited to search the foyer for anything they can use for either personal or just to sell to the Merchant.

Initially having 36,100 pesetas in total, the British Spriggan sold the gold bars (5,000), Velvet Blue (2,500) and two Spinels (4,000). Tea kept the purple gem for now, knowing that it can used elsewhere. For now, the group has 47,600 pesetas.

"Look there." Chun-Li pointed a shining Spinel mounted at the back of a statue's head, which was positioned upside down since it was mounted from the ceiling.

"Who the heck in his right mind would do such a thing?" Hien said out loud, wondering who the hell placed the statue upside down.

"I guess we'll never know." Jill said, shrugging her shoulders.

"Master." Dan pointed to the Spinel Chun-Li found to Sho.

"I understand." Sho told his ex-student. "Leave it to me."

The ninja hurled a shuriken at the spinel carefully so that it could drop to the ground without breaking.

Fujino ran to the dropped spinel to inspect it if it's broken.

"It's alright." She showed the spinel to Sho. "It's not broken or damaged."

"Let me go and ask Ms. Tea if this can be sold to our friendly merchant."

* * *

><p>Motor Pool, DSO Headquarters, somewhere in Virginia, United States of America<p>

* * *

><p>A DSO tactical team operator gave Bruce his body armor, which he immediately wore since the blonde man was needed in the field. He saw that several operators were already armed and waiting, worth the equivalent of four squads.<p>

"Listen up!" Bruce began to debrief the teams. "Senior Agent Benford has given me instructions. Instructions that are meant to be followed." He then continued. "We have orders to launch a raid at the Mountain Ridge Community College to locate and seize a suspected CIHL base."

This earned Bruce several questioning stares, especially with the part of raiding a community college.

"Uh..." One of the operators spoke up. "What exactly are we looking for here?"

"We're just going to seize the group's assets." Bruce replied. "Also, we've been given information that CIHL has its base located underground. Normally, this would be a pain in the butt for us to locate its entrance. However, FOS has received information on its secret entrance."

"And we're doing this without LEO consent?" Another operator asked Bruce.

"DSO has already requested the cooperation of local PDs to seal up the area. In addition, we would evacuate all students, faculty and other personnel before we launch the raid. Right now, they're just doing that."

Bruce wore his left earpiece then when he received a transmission that the college was almost evacuated.

"Okay, guys!" Bruce then told the teams. "I've been told that the college is almost evacuated and the LEOs are waiting for us there! So go, go, go, go!"

The operators rushed to get inside the parked Chevrolet Suburbans before and after their engines were turned on. After Bruce did a quick brass check on his Beretta 92F, he holstered it on his right leg holster and got into one of the Suburbans in the front passenger seat.

The SUVs had the sirens activated, located at the push bumper and inside the SUV near the rear view mirror, before they drove off towards the college.

* * *

><p>Temple, Keep, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"Ah." Tea greeted Sho as she was done talking to the Merchant. "Is there something that you need from me?"<p>

"I found this." Sho showed the immortal a Spinel he just took from the ground. "It may be of some use to you."

"Thank you." Tea thanked the ninja. She then showed the merchant. "Can I sell this to you?"

"Ah..." The Merchant looked very pleased when he picked up and inspected the third Spinel from Tea. "I'll buy this from you as usual, strangah." He took a closer look at the item.

"You'll take it, then?"

"Of course I will, strangah..." The hooded merchant was kind enough to take the spinel of Tea's hands and buy it for 2,000 pesetas. Now the group has 49,600 pesetas in their hands.

"Good news, everyone." Tea spoke up to the group. "I've managed to sell whatever items we can get. So far, we got 49,600 pesetas."

"Nicely done." Hiryu complimented Tea.

"Now it's about time we get First Aid Sprays." Kevin told Tea. "Leon used up the last one. 'Bout time we restock."

"Not to mention refill our magazines." Leon added for more emphasis.

"Right. How many sprays are we gonna get this time?" Dan asked the blonde man.

Leon began to start counting with his fingers. Eventually, he counted with four fingers.

"I'd say four. Unless there are people who are going to object over that suggestion."

When Leon looked around, Jill tapped him on his left shoulder.

"How about six?" Jill suggested. "The teams can have three each for emergency measures in case we can't obtain enough herb supplies?"

"Good idea." Hiryu seemed to agree with Jill's suggestion. "The more, the merrier. Besides, it's not like we can know when we can meet with the Merchant again."

Ashley watched the group talking to each other, taking to sit down on the floor with her back behind one of the marble pillars. The blonde university student had a sudden cough, but she was able to hold it.

_Is it from the parasite? I can't tell yet._

When Ashley tried to use her left index finger to check the edges of her lips, she felt what seemed to be blood. The girl just tried to rub whatever the heck was at her fingertips, swearing that it was just nothing.

_Blood... It can't be! I must be just hallucinating or something._

"Are you alright, Ashley-san?"

Ashley saw that Fujino was standing in front of her, leaning down to face her.

"I-I'm fine..." Ashley mumbled, looking at the floor. "What are the others doing?"

"Buying what they can from the Merchant." Ashley eyed Leon buying six First Aid Sprays from the Merchant. All of them had Tricell logos on it.

"I see." Ashley then coughed again for a bit.

"Are you alright?"

Ashley nodded.

* * *

><p>Chairman's Office, ARCAM Japan Headquarters, Ichigaya, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan<p>

* * *

><p>A semi-bald Japanese man in his 50s with short, straight black hair sighed, leaning back in his office chair. He only had his white dress shirt, black dress pants and Oxford shoes with red necktie on as his black dress suit was hanging in a nearby coat rack.<p>

"The things I do to ensure humanity's future." The chairman and ex-Spriggan mumbled while waddling through a lot of paperwork placed on top of his desk.

He had just dispatched Yu alongside Jean, Tea and Hien to investigate the Spanish countryside for any traces of a plaga that can control anything, including humans and animals alike. According to ARCAM's Spanish Headquarters in Madrid, their archaeologists and scientists have uncovered evidence in the early 2000s that the plaga used by Los Illuminados was a pre-20th century biological warfare agent. The uncovered evidence, which included preserved documents and fossils, suggests that the plaga had been used since ancient times. Records showed that it was possibly used from the Middle Ages all the way to the 19th century by the Spanish to mostly pacify their colonies ranging from the Americas to the Philippines in order to stamp out any anti-Spanish insurrections, although ARCAM Spain was still trying to clarify if the said records were really making these claims.

"I hope we can hold on on our own with Ominae and the others out of Asia." Yamamoto murmured, knowing that Yu had left on a Friday afternoon and he won't be back even next week. Because he still has school, he needs to provide the school with an "excuse" that he's out of Japan to attend a personal matter. Not that he can tell the school administration that he's out there fighting the good fight to prevent Los Illuminados from taking over the world with their plagas.

Yamamoto then went to check up on the papers and saw nothing about the incident with the cult or with the disappearance of the First Daughter in America.

_Looks like the Americans are doing a good job in concealing information about the disappearance of President Graham's daughter? The thing is how long can they do this before people start to poke around?_

* * *

><p>Temple, Keep, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"We're back, guys!"<p>

Martin and Java had just gotten back from exploring the mostly empty foyer while the others took their time to reload their guns. The duo were able to secure some items including a box of 9mm bullets, 1,200/800 pesetas, a Green Herb, Frag Grenade and a box of shotgun shells.

"That all you got?" Jean asked, examining the grenade and the box of shotgun shells. He tossed it to Leon, who gladly accepted it without any problem. Martin tossed the box of 9mm bullets to Eriko. The Center agent, however, decided to keep the herb for himself in the meantime.

"Well counting the pesetas Martin collected, we now have 51,600 pesetas in our possession." Tea announced to the group after she collected the pesetas from Martin.

"Looks like the money we got is enough to buy another weapon." Hiryu surmised, hearing the peseta amount Tea had said.

"Sorry to inform you, strangahs." The Merchant spoke up next. "I won't have another weapon until much later."

"Supply problems?" Kevin asked the hooded seller.

The Merchant nodded in reply. "Very much so, strangah." He then continued to explain. "I probably won't have new weapons yet until I can resolve that problem. But otherwise, do expect new merchandise from me."

"Uh..." Eriko didn't expect to hear new weapons would be coming to the Merchant himself. "Thank you very much."

"I'll go and take a look around while you guys are resting." Leon told the group as a few of them sat down on the floor to catch some air and rest.

"Can I come with you?" Ashley approached Leon, trying to suppress another coughing fit.

"Sure, why not? You could probably use the exercise." Leon told the First Daughter.

Together, Leon and Ashley walked down the hallway to explore it and to see if there was any visible exit they can use.

"By the way," Diana asked the Merchant. "What's behind the blue door?"

"A shooting range, strangah. If you go in there, you can take your time and practice your shooting skills."

"A shooting range, huh?" For some reason, Kevin was interested in the shooting range the Merchant had just mentioned to Diana.

"I think we have other things to worry about other than the shooting range, Kevin." Jill reminded Kevin.

* * *

><p>Mountain Ridge Community College, Roanoke, Virginia, United States of America<p>

* * *

><p>The DSO Suburbans arrived at the outskirts of the Mountain Ridge Community College, the premises already evacuated by officers of the Roanoke County Police Department. A RCPD officer greeted Bruce when he disembarked from the Suburban.<p>

"We've evacuated the college as requested." The RCPD officer, who was of Southeast Asian descent, said when he greeted Bruce. He was accompanied by an armed DSO tactical team assaulter.

"Thanks a lot for that, officer." Bruce thanked the officer before he drew out his Beretta 92F.

"Is there something that we should know?"

"No. The DSO will take over from here. You get your fellow officers to secure the scene. Make sure no one gets into the college unless someone related to the place is left behind."

"Understood, sir."

A Caucasian RCPD officer lifted the police tape, allowing Bruce and the DSO tactical teams to get inside the cordoned community college without any opposition.

"I wonder what's going on here?" murmured the officer before he got the police tape after the last DSO tac team assaulter entered the cordoned college.

* * *

><p>Hallway, Temple, Keep, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Leon and Ashley were just walking down the hallway when the former noticed that the latter began to cough again.<p>

"Are you okay, Ashley?" Leon spotted the blood that was on the palm of her right hand. This alarmed the First Daughter greatly.

"I-I'm fine!" Ashley insisted, shoving Leon away when he tried to check on her right hand. "J-Just leave me alone!"

"Ashley wait!" Leon began to run after Ashley after she began to sprint towards the end of the hallway. _Dammit! Just what did I get myself into?_

Spikes began to appear from the ground, forcing Leon to separate from Ashley until she made it to the end. But as Ashley leaned on the wall, restraint appeared and grabbed Ashley. Binding her to a section of the wall, it began to move to whatever was on the other ground, leaving Leon alone in the hallway.

"ASHLEY!" Leon shouted after he saw her disappear from his sight.

_Shit! _Leon thought in anger before his radio was receiving a transmission. But while he was going to answer it, he didn't see Hunnigan's face on it. This greatly worried the blonde DSO agent.

**"Hunnigan, what happened? The transmission got cut off."**

He started to walk away from the hallway to see Kevin when he saw Salazar's face instead of Hunnigan's.

**"Salazar!" **Salazar's appearance on the radio startled Leon. **"How'd you..."**

Salazar replied with a huge grin up his face. **"Let's just say that we jacked the line. We didn't want or your friends to be telling unnecessary information."  
><strong>

* * *

><p>Somewhere in the Mountain Ridge Community College, Roanoke, Virginia, United States of America<p>

* * *

><p>Bruce in an empty hallway as the DSO tac teams began to sweep the main lobby and some of the offices in the area at first before moving further inside after they got access in the community college. So far, things were quiet aside from the radio chatter from local LEOs.<p>

"Quiet." Bruce murmured. "I don't like it. I think I better ask HQ for more manpower."

"I think we found something." A Colt M4A1-armed DSO tac team assaulter approached Bruce in the hallway.

"Something up?"

"Yeah. You may want to see this. It's urgent."

"Alright. Show me the way."

The assaulter led Bruce towards a flight of stairs and climbed up. After a while, they arrived at the faculty area. The place had been cordoned off by a few DSO tac team assaulters, indicating that the area is secure.

"So what's the thing that you need to show me?" Bruce asked the assaulter who was escorting him towards a section of the faculty area.

"Here it is." The assaulter showed him the dean's office. It looked normal with a desk and chair and several bookshelves. The only thing that was not normal is that one of the bookshelves was pulled aside as if someone had just pulled the door, revealing a flight of stairs that were heading down.

"Looks like the Center was right on the mark with the intel they provided us." Bruce said, giving a whistle when he looked at the staircase.

"Should we get the others?" The assaulter asked Bruce, not sure if they should get most of the manpower down the secret passage.

"We should." Bruce replied. "Probably just a couple of teams to be safe. Leave the others to secure the base. Hopefully we can put in a request for additional manpower in things go really, really south."

* * *

><p>Hallway, Foyer, Keep, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p><strong>"Aw... So she fell into one of our wonderful traps." <strong>

Salazar was trying to pity Leon in a sarcastic way.

Minutes later, Kevin ran up to see Leon with his own radio working. The others joined up after a few minutes.

**"We'll make sure we find her. Don't you worry about her."**

**"Somehow that doesn't make me feel safe about this place." **Kevin retorted to the Salazar family head. This made the midget raise an eyebrow at him.

**"Not feeling confident are we?" **Salazar replied. **"Which reminds me, I was able to release my insects for an exercise in the sewers."**

**"Yeah. That ought to keep us company." **Leon glared at Salazar. **"'Cause boredom kills us."**

**"I look forward to our next encounter." **Salazar calmly told Leon before he added. **"In another life..."**

The hacked transmission then ended.

"Leon, what happened?" Kevin asked his DSO partner.

"Ashley got a bit scared after she coughed up blood." Leon pointed to the end of the hallway. "So she went there. But she got caught in another trap."

"We'll need to find her fast." Jill told Leon, being first to speak up after hearing what Leon had told Kevin.

"Yeah... That'll be swell." Hiryu sighed, rolling his eyes. "Considering the master of the house has some friends for us to play with."

"We should be able to beat them at their own game." Sho told the SHADOW agent. "As long as we keep our guard up?"

"But where do we start?" Diana asked the ninja.

"Over here." Fujino pointed out a lone brown door on the right side of the corridor.

Leon and Kevin were the first to stack up near the door. The others who had guns stacked up from behind them. The others who didn't have guns as weapons stayed a bit behind so that the ones with guns can clear what's behind the door.

Leon nodded to Kevin before he checked if the door can be opened. Once it was confirmed, the blonde man pushed the door aside before he moved in with his M3 ready.

* * *

><p>Command Center, Field Operations Support Division, DSO Headquarters, somewhere in Virginia, United States of America<p>

* * *

><p>"Ms. Hunnigan! We've got some bad news!"<p>

Hunnigan was urgently summoned back to FOS after her meeting with Adam had just concluded.

"What happened?" Hunnigan spoke to one of the FOS personnel who had just came to meet her. She was Caucasian in her middle 20s. Blonde hair with a dress shirt, knee-length blue office skirt and high heels.

"We were able to make contact with Agents Kennedy and Ryman after the hackers got through." The FOS operator explained to Hunnigan. "We got cut off again. It seems Los Illuminados has strengthened the jamming zone and hacked through our channels."

"Has it been compromised?" Hunnigan asked as she went to her station.

"No. It seems that the cult's not interested in compromising our network."

"They probably hacked us to make contact with the agents."

Some of the FOS personnel shouted inside the command center, yelling something about whether the jamming zone had been hacked through. None of the replies heard were favorable for FOS.

"Try again and see if we can get through with our agents."

"Understood, Ms. Hunnigan."

* * *

><p>Unknown Area, below Mountain Ridge Community College, Roanoke, Virginia, United States of America<p>

* * *

><p>Bruce began to move down the staircase, aiming his 92F while having his tac light at the ready. He held the pistol on his right hand while the tac light was held on his left hand, being positioned on the side of the right hand. Bruce had the tac light illuminated after getting on the staircase. Even though the wall had some lights on, Bruce used his tac light anyway since he wanted to be sure that the path ahead of him was safe.<p>

The DSO agent was joined up by two DSO tac teams, all of them armed with M4A1s. Their assault carbines were already outfitted with tac lights and red dot scopes.

"Keep up your guard, guys." Bruce warned the assaulters as they continued down the staircase, not knowing if they'll be walking into an ambush.

Within almost an hour, they were at the bottom of the staircase with a door in front of them.

_A sliding door? I wonder if you'll need some kind of access card to get pass through? _Bruce carefully approached the sliding door. He was a bit surprised when it opened up. _Okay. No surprises now._

Bruce then slowly walked passed the opened door, having his sidearm at the ready. He didn't know if the area was safe since the place was a known CIHL base. At least according to the Center's intelligence.

"Looks clear." Bruce murmured before he gestured to the tac teams to follow him.

As the tac teams fanned out to search the area, which was dark, they used their tac lights to sweep the floor and the ceiling before they looked around the room to see if the coast was clear.

Then all of a sudden, gunfire rang out. Bruce noted that one of the assaulters was hit in the chest. This forced all of them to see cover. Fortunately, the assaulters had noted that the room had tables that they can use to provide protection against the gunfire.

"TAKE COVER!" Bruce shouted as he dragged the downed assaulter by the drag handle at the back of his tactical vest. "TAKE COVER!"

The last thing he heard before getting into contact with FOS in inquiring about the lights since the room was dark, Bruce heard a couple of empty cabinets and bookshelves toppled to the ground to provide some cover until the lights can be turned on.

* * *

><p>Upper Level, Sewers, Keep, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"Clear!" Leon was the first to enter through, sweeping the area with his M3.<p>

"Clear!" Kevin came in next, sweeping the area with his Glock 21 Mariner.

"All is clear." Sho said to the others when they poured into the upper floor of sewers.

"Looks like the place is decent." Martin observed the area before he saw the wooden barrels on the side. "Except for those guys."

"Let me handle this one." Cammy told Martin before she approached the barrels. The Delta Red agent kicked the barrels, breaking them apart to reveal the contents. She picked up 1,200 pesteas and a flashbang. The blonde woman tossed the flashbang to Leon, which he accepted without any problem.

"There's a ladder here."

Leon and Kevin turned a couple of corners to see Chun-Li standing next to an open hatch, which has a ladder leading down.

"Is it safe?" Kevin asked the Interpol detective.

"I can't tell." Chun-Li told Kevin. "I just found this with the hatch opened already."

Tea approached the hatch and examined it.

"Something?" Jean asked the British Spriggan agent.

"It seems that the master of the house has indeed left his pets prowling in the sewers for us to interact with." Tea said calmly.

"How can she say that while she's all calm and everything?" Leon whispered to Yu, just staring at Tea.

"Hell should I know?" Yu said, shrugging his shoulders.

"Regardless, we need to head down there immediately." Kevin said, gripping on the Glock 21 Mariner. He ensured that the sling to the SSG P IV was secured on his left shoulder before the brown-haired DSO agent leaped down from the upper level to the lower levels of the sewers.

* * *

><p>Unknown Area, below Mountain Ridge Community College, Roanoke, Virginia, United States of America<p>

* * *

><p><strong>"How much longer?!"<strong>

Bruce shouted at his earpiece when he checked the health of the downed DSO tac team assaulter, knowing that the body armor had stopped the bullets from killing him.

**"Four more minutes, Agent McGivern! We're almost there!" **Someone from FOS made contact with him when the downed assaulter crouched properly and returned fire towards the unknown assailants with his M4A1.

"I NEED A GRENADE!" Bruce spoke to the assaulter, who nodded and pointed to the M67 frag grenade strapped on his tac vest since the gunfire was drowning out any chances of having a normal conversation. The blonde man grabbed one of the M67s, removed the safety pin and hurled it towards the other side of the area.

A few seconds later, he heard an explosion. That was followed by some screams and wails of some people being killed by the frag grenade's shrapnel.

**"Are we there yet?!" **Bruce asked again, firing his 92F by conducting blind shooting in order to get the opposition down by at least forcing them to stop shooting since the DSO tac teams didn't expect a complete blackout of the area.

**"Almost! In five, four, three, two and one!"**

The lights came back on, which forced the opposition to stop shooting with the lights being on.

"ATTACK!" Bruce shouted, gesturing to the assaulters to move in. The tac teams noted that their opponents also had similar tac team gear, except that they wore night vision goggles which allowed them the initial advantage.

The DSO tac teams assaulters, using the environment to cover themselves while firing back at the blinded gunmen to kill them before they got a chance to effectively fight back.

* * *

><p>Lower Level, Sewers, Keep, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Kevin was the first to descend down the lower levels of the sewer, making minimal noise as much as possible when his boots made contact with a puddle of watter. Thankfully, the floor was not deep otherwise it would give him and the others trouble in navigating through the sewers.<p>

"All clear?" Jill and Chun-Li were the next ones to leap down.

"Yep." Kevin told Jill. "But the British lady says that we could expect some trouble anytime."

"Yeah." Jill smirked. "I know how that feeling is."

The others came jumping down to the lower levels of the sewer, being careful to ensure that their clothes were not drenched in water.

"Here's the plan..." Leon began to explain how they would proceed through the sewers. "Jean and I would go first since we got shotguns. Kevin, you'll conduct long-range support. The others will back us up in case a sneak attack would occur."

The rest of the group had chorused "You got it" and "Understood" in response.

"Looks like the area has little puddles of water." Sho observed the floor. "Probably has been used before."

"Even so, let's be on our guard." Leon told the ninja before he walked, leading the way while porting his M3. Jean was behind Leon, having his SPAS-12 placed on his right shoulder.

Aside from some noises from the water with the sound of metal falling down, the area looked safe. They turned a corner to the right and spotted two openings. One was the long pathway ahead. The other was an opening made in the wall.

"Which one?" Eriko asked the DSO agent.

"I spotted something here." Leon told Eriko, pointing to the opening in the wall. "A box from the look of things."

"I can do this so that we don't have time to waste." Sho insisted, making a run for the end of the pathway after he entered the opening on the wall. Smashing the box with a roundhouse, he picked up the box of shotgun shells and ran back to Leon.

"That was fast." Leon whistled when Sho gave the box to Jean. The blonde was about to go down the path when Tea stretched her left arm in order to get her hand to touch his chest.

"I would advise you not to go forward." Tea calmly warned Leon.

"You mean..." Leon was about to ask Tea when she nodded.

"Mr. Ryman." Tea asked for the other DSO agent's attention. "Please get into a prone position and shoulder your sniper rifle."

"Yes, ma'am." Kevin grinned, obeying Tea's instructions. Once he was able to peer through the scope, Kevin asked Tea. "What should I be doing here?"

"Can you spot anything?" Tea asked Kevin. "If the master of the house has something for us, it would be possible that they were invisible or at least using some form of natural camouflage to fool our eyes."

"I'm not liking this type of enemy." Diana said to M artin, feeling apprehensive.

"I'm sure that they'll be able to do something." Martin tried to calm his stepsister. "Even Java's ready to help. Right, buddy?"

Java smiled and gave a thumbs up.

"Hold on a second..." Kevin said, peering through the scope carefully. "Looks like I can see something."

"Excellent." Tea nodded. "If our next enemy has a form of camouflage that can fool our eyes, then it would be obvious that standing still for a few seconds can allow us to see the outline of their bodies."

"Right. I gotcha." Kevin replied, scanning an area of the sewers where he spotted a fading outline of a body. The body wasn't human. However, it has an insect-like shape. Or rather, a humanoid/insect-like hybrid's body.

"Why am I getting memories of Raccoon City?" The ex-SPD officer murmured, searching for labored breathing in order to score a hit in the creature's head. Kevin did find the hiding creature thanks to its breathing in addition of a few seconds of its eyes glowing.

_Got it!_

Once Kevin was able to locate the creature's head, he scored a headshot at the being's head. Thanks to the suppressor (in addition to the 7.62 NATO subsonic bullets), the creature didn't see what came to its head.

"I got it!" Kevin shouted, watching the creature fall on its back. Through the scope, Kevin saw that the creature looked like some kind of giant dragonfly that had its genes placed on a human. It squealed in pain before it eventually died.

"Saw something?" Leon asked Kevin as he got up.

"Looked like some kinda dragonfly with genes placed on humans. Damn cult bastards."

"Looks like the cult's showing off its true colors." Hien glared at where the creature had been, known to Los Illuminados as the Novistador.

"We need to move." Fujino advised the group. "There's no telling when more of those creatures would show up."

Together, the group moved down the path to navigate through the sewers. Before they made a turn to the left, Leon picked up what appears to be a diamond-like item. It was the Blue Eye, although it had a purple-like color. He handed the item over to Tea before they moved on.

Chapter 14 END

* * *

><p>PS - Chapter 14 at it is, ladies and gentlemen! If you did enjoy this chapter, please read and review my other current story "Peacekeepers" as well. I look forward to all the reviews for this chapter and all. It would be of big help to me as I continue finishing this story up. Heh heh. Least I'm "narrating" the story half way through. Gameplay wise, we're in the beginning part of Chapter 3-2. Oh joy!<p>

I've been watching some Macross (Both the original one and Frontier) recently, though I stay away most of the time because of the constant shipping wars. Which makes me damn glad that I always accept a neutral position at times.

LEOs usually meant law enforcement officers, which I'm using.

Like I said before, I am tinkering on a Super Robot Wars story. Although I can't (and probably won't) due to time constraints being slowly placed on me, I do plan to outline what the story would have. Besides, I plan to wrap this main storyline that I had going since 2004/05 IIRC with one centering on Resident Evil 6 as the end. Though if anyone likes to take about this, then I'm game. Just let me know. Anyhow, I did say that I'll be a tad slow since there are other things I need to do, but I hope that I can finish my stuff though.

I probably should add the total of pesetas the group acquired/lost in each chapter since I'm worried that I may lose track eventually.

Good day/evening to you readers.

* * *

><p>Pesetas in Total = 52,800<p> 


	15. Invisible Enemy

Resident Evil/Biohazard: Hostage Rescue

Rating: T

NOTE:

All characters of Resident Evil/Captain Commando/Street Fighter are under the copyright of Capcom. All characters of Martin Mystery are under the copyright of Marathon. All characters of Kara no Kyokai are under the copyright of TYPE-MOON. All characters of Spriggan are under the copyright of Hiroshi Takashige and Ryoji Minagawa. All characters of Jiraishin are under the copyright of Tsutomu Takahashi. The appearance of Kenneth "Kenny" Feng is under noctorro's jurisdiction. All others are under my jurisdiction.

Summary:

The group now proceeds to the sewers in Salazar Castle after Ashley has been abducted once again through a surprise trap. But with a new threat coming from a new enemy called the Novistador, it'll force them to stay to their levels. Can they survive their encounter with this new enemy type? Stay tune to this chapter to find out.

Chapter 15: Invisible Enemy

* * *

><p>Lower Level, Sewers, Keep, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>After defeating the first Novistador, the group quietly moved in the lower levels of the Salazar's Castle sewers as they were now fully aware of the complications of facing an enemy that has the ability to use invisibility to hide itself from anyone and anything.<p>

"We're here." Leon whispered to his allies, aiming his Benelli M3 at a square-shaped draining ditch. "And it looks clear."

Tea raised her hand and shook her head. "I beg to object, Mr. Kennedy."

"So this means..." Jean shouldered his Franchi SPAS-12 after checking that its firing mode is set to semi-automatic from pump-action mode.

"I'll do that." Kevin knelled down and shouldered the silenced Steyr SSG P IV and began to fire shot after shot at the invisible Novistadors after scoping out where they hiding via scope. He noted the breaths the insects took when they inhaled and exhaled, which was one way for him to see their hiding spot.

Jean immediately jumped down and emptied his SPAS-12 at the downed Novistadors, intending to finish the DSO agent's job.

"All clear!" Jean said, picking up two boxes of shotgun shells, which was perfect for him since he was about to run out of buckshot reserves. He proceed to reload whatever he can with his buckshots as the others either climbed the ladder down or simply jumped down to the drainage ditch.

"Thanks a lot, man!" Hien told Jean as he stopped to pick up a Velvet Blue after being one of the first to jump down the ditch.

"Got it." Leon murmured after he had just jumped down the ditch, picking up a box of 9mm bullets for pistols.

"Looks clear here." Jean said as he jumped up rather climbing up the ladder. He aimed his shotgun, up, down, at the ditch and at the metal door next to him.

"Gee, thanks for making up feel better, Jean." Yu sneered at him as he climbing up the ladder.

"Not a problem, Ominae." Jean smirked at the Japanese Spriggan, approaching the metal door. He gripped the door handle and started to push the door after knowing that the door was not rigged and that the door was not locked.

The ponytailed man went in first to clear the way for the others.

* * *

><p>Secret Laboratory, below Mountain Ridge Community College, Roanoke, Virginia, United States of America<p>

* * *

><p>"ALL CLEAR!"<p>

"ALL CLEAR!"

Bruce had covered his eyes when the lights inside the laboratory flashed open at once, forcing the blonde man to shield them because he would have a hard time seeing if he didn't.

"Wow..." He saw a lot of bodies sprawled all over the lab. He surmised that they belong to the tactical division of CIHL. "Looks like they placed a good fight for us."

"Over here! We found someone!"

Bruce was summoned by a DSO tactical assaulter towards a cabinet. Two DSO tac team assaulters were aiming their M4A1s at the cabinet.

"Uhhmmm..." Bruce was confused to see armed men aiming at the cabinet. "Mind telling me what this is about?"

"Some of the guys noted that something's causing this cabinet to shake." The assaulter tried to explain to Bruce the situation. "We just need you to take a look a this."

"Fine, I'll look." Bruce sighed before he placed his hand on the cabinet handle. "Whatever you do, don't riddle me with bullets. I don't wanna go out by friendly fire."

_One... and Two!_

Bruce quickly opened the cabinet and saw a man was inside the cabinet, sitting down. He was clearly shaken.

What raised his eyebrow was the uniform he wore. The man was a CIHL scientist. Bruce also noticed that the man had pissed in fear from the shootout.

"Great. Just great."

* * *

><p>Cell Block, Sewers, Keep, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>The group had just walked into what appeared to be an abandoned cell block built in the sewers, placed below Salazar Castle. The perfect place to keep your enemies locked up if you want to keep them there and intimidate them in the long run.<p>

"Looks all clear." Eriko commented all visually checking out the cell block.

"I don't think so." Tea warned the Japanese detective. "Especially since we have enemies that can turn invisible, there's no way we can know if one can show up."

"But where do we start from here?" Leon asked the British psychic.

Hiryu and Hien took note of the open hole on the roof of the cell block.

"Keep an eye on that one." Hiryu told his allies when he pointed to the open hole of the roof.

"All right." Cammy noted the open hole.

"We probably should search the cells." Chun-Li suggested. "Maybe it won't be much, but there can be a clue or two that we can use to see where we can go from here."

But when Martin and Java were walking towards the middle of the cell block, a Novistdor had emerged from the open hole above. This nearly caught everyone off their guard, but had heeded the masked SHADOW agent's warning.

"Java!" Martin warned his caveman friend. He immediately went for the U-Watch to get his I-Cutter, since he understood that using a staff can't kill these... these things.

Java gritted his teeth and cracked his knuckles in anticipation of the Novsitador's attack. As expected, the genetically enhanced insect sighted Java and began a short sprint before it leaped for the caveman's head.

"HRAHAAHHAH!"

To show how his caveman strength is still relevant to the group's line of work, Java moved his right arm back after he raised it. Afterwards, he punched the Novistador by the head.

"OH YEAH!" Martin yelled, grinning to see the Novistador tumble down backwards after being punched. The Novistador then got up and charged again at Java, feeling a lot angrier than usual.

"STAND BACK!" Chun-Li rushed in to help Java before he may not survive another attempt on his life.

The Chinese Interpol executed one of her well-known attacks in the Street Fighter tournaments.

"KIKOKEN!"

The projectile went straight for the Novistador's chest, since she was very, very near the creature. She watched the projectile rip the creature into half, having to concentrate most of her spirit energy into it so that the Novistador can be killed. Both halves of the Novistador promptly dissolved after the attack.

"Another one! Look out!" Leon warned the others when a Novistador came busting out of one of the abandoned cells, ramming the rusting cell door out of the way. The others were kept back, either because their weapons may not be enough to effectively keep them down permanently or 'cause they can't get close to the Novstador without risking their lives and dying due to carelessness.

"Ah, dammit!" Kevin crouched next to Leon. He aimed the Leupold riflescope and downed the Novistador after firing the Steyr SSG P IV, seeing the creature go down on its back after being shot by a 7.62 NATO subsonic bullet at the chest area.

"It's getting up!" Yu told Kevin, who fired his Heckler & Koch G3A3 to keep the Novistador.

"Keep firing!" Kevin told the Japanese Spriggan. Despite the fact that Yu was firing his assault rifle very near him, Kevin was used to the sound of small arms being fired close to him. He was already used to it, even though the area was not that wide.

But that didn't matter. As soon as the Novistador got up, Kevin worked on the sniper rifle's bolt to get a round in the chamber before he fired again. The Novistador went down again, on his back after it got hit on the chest.

"Here goes! Keep back!" Kevin worked on the bolt again as fast as possible, aiming for the Novistador's head before he fired again for the third time.

After the bullet made impact with the Novistador's head, the creature keeled over in pain before it dissolved.

"CLEAR!" Kevin shouted after he pulled the bolt to clear the chamber of empty brass.

"CLEAR!" Chun-Li shouted also after Kevin had shouted the "CLEAR!" message first, since she and the DSO agent had killed two Novistadors.

"Okay, let's spread out and search the cells in this empty cell block!" Leon shouted as he began to give a short briefing on his comrades, given their situation against the Novistadors. "Partner up and search them carefully. We won't even know if the area's clear until those insects are wiped out."

* * *

><p>Jean went to the locations of where the Novistadors were killed, picking up a Green and Red Eye.<p>

"I got something." The French Spriggan showed Tea the eye jewels he obtained.

"Perfect." Tea smiled at Jean, which made Jean give the immortal an eyebrow.

"Here's one cell." Yu and Cammy found one cell. When the Japanese Spriggan tried to see if the cell door was locked, he found out that the door was locked.

"Allow me." Cammy insisted, executing a spinning roundhouse to bust the cell door down.

"Wow..." Yu was amazed to see the Delta Red agent's work. "Reminds me of me..."

"Glad to see someone admiring my line of work." Cammy smirked as she went inside the cell.

"Looks like a dead guy." Yu said, lowering his G3A3.

"Indeed." Cammy knelt down to check the corpse indeed. "For a while now. And I doubt anyone's coming to claim the body."

"I agree." Yu went to sling his G3A3 behind his back. He proceeded to pick up an incendiary grenade from the cell's dirty sink.

_Who the heck would leave this here?_

* * *

><p>Secret Laboratory, below Mountain Ridge Community College, Roanoke, Virginia, United States of America<p>

* * *

><p>Bruce waited for word on the interrogation a DSO assaulter was doing with the scientist they found in the cabinet.<p>

**"Anything, Bruce?" **Bruce received word from FOS on their current situation.

**"Oh, Hunnigan." **Bruce greeted Hunnigan. **"Nothing much. We took care of CIHL tac teams trying to lay an ambush on us."**

**"Any civilians?"  
><strong>

Bruce turned around to see the scientist still being interrogated. **"Still being interrogated. The guys and I found him nearly scared to death and pissing in his pants too."**

**"I see." **Hunnigan replied. **"Good work, Bruce."**

**"What about Kevin and Leon?"** Bruce asked Hunnigan back in FOS.

**"Nothing yet." **Hunnigan told the blonde DSO agent. **"We're still trying, but it looks like the cult's got some assistance in establishing an electronic dead zone to block all communications in and out."**

Bruce sighed. **"Thanks Hunnigan. I'll bring the guy in when we're done."**

**"Understood. FOS out."  
><strong>

* * *

><p>Cell Block, Sewers, Keep, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"Found another cell."<p>

Martin and Diana eyed the other cell next to the one Yu and Cammy had explored.

"Can it open?" Diana asked Martin.

"Let's go and see." Martin grabbed the cell door by the bar and shook it several times. "Nothing. Guess the cell block's too neglected that the rust got to the door and made things difficult."

"Java." Diana called for the caveman's attention.

"Hm?" Java darted his eyes to Diana, who was waving to him.

"Can you help us with this?" Diana pointed to the cell door in front of her. "Martin tried to get the cell door open, but it's too rusted that the hinges won't budge."

"Java can do it." Java reassured the young teenager when he punched the cell door with all of his caveman strength.

"Nice!" Martin was ecstatic to see the cell door out of the door after Java punched it, causing it to cave inward.

Diana was the first to enter the cell, seeing that nothing was inside, but dust.

"All clear from here."

* * *

><p>Hiryu and Eriko were standing in front of the cell adjacent to the cell Martin and Diana had just explored after Java had busted the door open.<p>

"Here's another one." Hiryu told Eriko, trying to act very calm since he was "very, very" familiar with the woman.

"Can we get in?" The detective asked.

"Give me a second." The SHADOW agent checked the door and noted that although it can't be opened, the hinges were slowly giving way.

"Okay. Now give me a few minutes." Hiryu told Eriko again when he zipped up the collar of his Armored Machine Suit to get the artificial muscles up and running. Once he took care of that, the masked teen executed a spinning kick onto the cell door.

As a result, the door was removed from the hinges before it fell down straight into the cell.

Eriko didn't say anything as she stepped into the cell, looking for anything out of the ordinary. She knelt down near the corpse of a dead man and picked up a Yellow Herb.

"We got something." Hiryu told the others.

* * *

><p>Chun-Li and Jill found themselves looking at a locked cell that appeared to have some pieces of paper.<p>

"Door's locked." Jill told Chun-Li. "Could be opened though."

"Stand back please." Chun-Li advised the ex-STARS officer. She then executed her signature move, the Hyakuretsu Kyaku.

"HAHAHAHAHA!" The Chinese woman shouted as her kicks made work of the cell doors before it eventually collapsed inward.

"I guess I'll have to rely on you next time for things like this." Jill told Chun-Li after she got into the cell with her sidearm drawn out in case of another attack by any Novistadors.

"Anything?" Chun-Li asked after she ceased using her Hyakuretsu Kyaku.

"Yeah." Jill picked up a small box of shotgun shells. "I got this."

"Over there." Chun-Li pointed to the scraps of papers in Spanish.

"Got it." Jill nodded before she picked them up. She ran out and showed Eriko the papers.

"This must be Luis' papers." Eriko said after she picked up the papers from Jil. "Where did you find it?"

"In one of the empty cells." Jill replied. "Must be where Luis was incarcerated before he was able to get away."

"I'll need a few minutes to read over them, Jill." Eriko said after hearing Jill. _Where do I start..._

Eriko began to read Luis' memo, which is natural for her since she speaks fluent Spanish alongside Japanese (her native language), English and Mandarin Chinese (fluent languages).

**There are some parasites that have the ability to control their hosts. It's basic knowledge among biologists, but not much is known as to how the parasite does it. Studying these parasites might reveal some clues to as to how the powers of the Las Plagas work. And perhaps provide more insight on the victims of Las Plagas, the Los Ganados.  
><strong>

**Here is a list of some of the parasites that have the ability to manipulate the behavioral patterns of their host.  
><strong>

**Dicrocoelium:  
><strong>

**Once the larvae of this parasite migrates to the ant's esophagus, it alters the behavior of the ant. When then temperature drops in the evening, the infected ant climbs to the top of a plant and clamps onto a leaf using its mandible.**

** It stays there immobile until the next morning, placing the ant where it's most vulnerable to be eaten by a browsing herbivore such as sheep.**

** One could conclude that the parasite is manipulating the host's behavior to its way into the body of its definitive host.**

**Galactosomum:**

**The larvae of this parasite makes its home inside the brain of a fish such as the yellowtail and the parrot bass. Once infected, the fish make their way up to the water's surface where they'll swim until eaten by seabirds.**

** Once again, the peculiar behavior can only be explained by the parasite's desire to get into the bodies of the seabirds. **

**Leucochloridium:**

**This parasite's sporcysts develop in the snail's tentacles. The sporocysts are vivid in color and pulsate continually somewhat like a worm.**

** Surprisingly the infected snail makes its way to the top of a plant where it is most visible to the eyes of birds, therefore more likely to be eaten.**

** Once eaten by a bird, the parasite will complete its metamorphosis into an adult.**

* * *

><p>MOM's Office, The Center<p>

* * *

><p>MOM proceeded to receive her updated report from Billy, who was ordered to receive hourly reports on Los Illuminados and CIHL and other things that are important to the mission of her agents.<p>

"Here you are." Billy handed MOM a report on the DSO's raid on a CIHL facility.

"Thanks, Billy." MOM nodded to Billy. "Anything new from Security & Intelligence Division?"

"Yeah. It's in the report." Billy went to explain to MOM. "SID reports that a CIHL facility was already raided by the DSO."

The report raised MOM's curiosity.

"Go on."

Billy continued to explain MOM on the report. "So far, it appears that the CIHL facility is an underground research type. Appears to have been recently constructed, but the DSO is talking to someone they caught in the facility. A civilian. Looks like a scientist. There's no name yet."

MOM then replied. "Anything else?"

Billy shook his head. "Aside from the fact that Albert Wesker shook off our surveillance teams in downtown Madrid, there's nothing I can add in. SID's still trying to make contact with Martin and the other agents, but there's no luck."

"Dammit..." MOM sighed. "Continue to keep up intel reports from SID. And let me know if our hackers can break through the jamming zone in Spain."

"On it, MOM."

* * *

><p>Cell Block, Sewers, Keep, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"Quite the notes Mr. Luis had." Eriko said after the group gathered up from clearing the cells. "Looks like he took the time to write some notes on the parasite."<p>

"Anything specific?" Martin asked Eriko.

"He did mention some names. Dicrocoelium, Galactosomum and Leucochloridium."

Fujino ran a quick check on the O-Watch's Search Mode from the name Eriko mentioned.

"I can confirm that the names Eriko-san mentioned are the names of parasites."

"Whoa..." Yu gave a whistle. "So it seems that the parasite the cult uses is done through the insertion of these bad germs."

"Appears that way." Leon told the Japanese Spriggan. "Now that we've cleared the cell blocks, we can proceed on to get out of this place."

"Please give me a second." Fujino calmly told Leon as she worked on her O-Watch to materialize a Karambit Knife for her own use.

"What's she doing?" Kevin asked the Center agents.

"Fujino's very good at this." Dan told him after the Japanese SHADOW agent spoke briefly to Tea for a few seconds.

Fujino approached the L-shaped hallway up ahead and concentrated carefully. The group suddenly heard the wailing sound followed by a limb that had been completely twisted while still attached on the body.

"What the heck is that?!" Kevin shouted, covering his ears to avoid being deaf.

"Search me!" Diana shouted, covering her ears.

The others had their ears covered to avoid being deaf from a creature's wailing.

Fujino then saw a Novistador that was hiding in the L-shaped hallway, charging at Fujino despite having a broken arm. The SHADOW agent charged in with the Karambit at the ready. She ducked in after the Novistador charged in by trying to swing its right arm horizontally.

"Hah!" Fujino then brought the karambit's knife blade onto the Novistador's chest, stabbing the creature by the center.

"Whoa..." Martin whistled.

"Martin..." Diana grumbled at Martin. "That's gross."

"But come on, Fujino did what she had to do."

"All clear..." Fujino informed her allies after she coolly removed the karambit blade from the Novistador before its body began to dissolve.

"Looks like a ladder over here." Hien knelt on the side and saw the ladder. "Looks like the water's covering the rest of it and what appears to be a door."

"We'll need to drain this." Leon informed Hien.

Jill tossed a box of shotgun shells to Leon, the latter giving his thanks.

"It appears that we can split up." Sho said, who had been impressed by Fujino's actions with her karambit. "But this should be easy. If the water is covering the ladder to make things hard for us, I believe that there should be a room where we can find a valve."

"I can go with you, sensei." Hiryu bowed, insisting that he should go.

Sho knew that it was hard to argue with him when he took him under wing as a SHADOW agent candidate when MOM asked the ninja commando to train the first generation of SHADOW agents in unarmed combat.

"See if you can keep up with your sensei, then."

"Aa..."

Together, the two traveled through the L-shaped hallway, through an empty cell that had a hole in the wall (since there was huge debris blocking the way) and towards a room that had a valve with some controls.

But that was after Sho kicked the door open.

* * *

><p>StorageValve Room, Cell Block, Sewers, Keep, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain

* * *

><p>"Room is secured, sensei!" Hiryu told Sho after he completed a sweep of the room with his Heckler &amp; Koch G36C shouldered. The room had a pipe with a valve, some shelves and lockers with a treasure chest.<p>

"I shall do the valve." Sho told Hiryu. "Sweep the room and see if you can take anything useful."

"Understood."

As Sho began to turn the valve and drain the water blocking the way, Hiryu went to work and destroyed the wooden boxes on the shelves after he slung the G36C at his back. There, he found a box of shotgun shells and a Green Herb.

"About time." murmured the SHADOW agent. Taking the herb, he knelt down in front of the treasure chest and visually inspected it to see if it was rigged with a trap to catch someone off guard in case he or she tried to open it up.

"Careful now." Hiryu drew out his Fairbarn Sykes from the knife sheath and used its blade to check everything from the lock to the latch and the edges between the lid and the chest body. "Alright, all clear to be opened."

"I'm done here." Sho told Hiryu as the water completely receded.

"I got something." Hiryu showed Sho the Butterfly Lamp the former found in the opened treasure chest.

"Well done." Sho was impressed by Hiryu's work. "Looks like you are using some of the training we learned from SHADOW training."

"Do we go now?" Hiryu didn't know if he was to be impressed or something else.

"Of course."

* * *

><p>Corridor, outside StorageValve Room, Cell Block, Sewers, Keep, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain

* * *

><p>Sho and Hiryu were walking through the corridor after leaving the StorageValve Room when they were about to go into the empty cell with the hole in the wall when the former began to draw out his Lightning Light.

"Something wrong?" Hiryu asked.

Sho nodded. "Put down the lamp."

"How come, sensei?" Hiryu hesitated, but he agreed to follow the ninja's instructions.

"Just be on your guard."

Sho walked slowly, approaching the open hole until he made sudden movements. This started by a dash before he leaped up and stabbed his ninjato at the ceiling. Hiryu was about to object to this move until a Novistador materialized. It squealed in pain after being stabbed in the chest. Sho landed with the ninjato at the ready while the Novistador landed on the ground.

"Ambush..." Hiryu shouldered his G36C.

"Indeed." Sho replied as another Novisator seemingly out of nowhere and made a leap towards the two after the first one had died.

"Eat this!" Hiryu shouted when he opened fire with the G36C in full auto, shooting the second Novistador in the chest while it was leaping for his head.

* * *

><p>Makeshift Electronics Room, Unknown Facility<p>

* * *

><p>Krauser was in the room to monitor the progress of the jamming zone after he received word that someone was trying to hack through it.<p>

"Hey, Krauser."

Krauser turned around to see that Kenny had just arrived.

"Anything?"

"Yeah." Kenny nodded. "Word is that Ashley's been caught by Saddler in one of his traps at his personal castle."

"Well that's perfect." Krauser gave a grin. "Saves the trouble for us in trying to locate her."

"So what's the next step?"

"We wait and see if that skank in the red dress has some new intel that we can use."

"And the others..."

"They'll be taken care of, you'll see..."

* * *

><p>Cell Block, Sewers, Keep, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"INCOMING! SPREAD OUT!"<p>

Tea warned after they heard Hiryu firing his G36C.

"What's the matter?" Jill shouted after hearing Tea's warning.

"The invisible creatures!" Tea shouted after she hurled some of her pentagram cloths at a Novistador that just showed up after it rushed out of one of the empty cells by hiding on the ceiling after it stealthy infiltrated the cell block. The cloths turned into winged lions and charged at the Novistador. It didn't know what hit it when the winged lions pounced on it.

"Java!" Fujino had her karambit at the ready. Java growled and punched the Novistador at the face, sending it down. Fujino jumped and stabbed it at its chest.

Two more Novistadors came down the cell block from the hole in the ceiling. Leon used his M3 and fired at one of them at a semi-auto rate after being told by Kevin that he needed to keep an breathing on the breathing to spot one Novistador if it is invisible. After he emptied his shotgun's magazine at the downed Novistador and watch it squeal in pain, Leon retreated to the side in order to reload his weapon. Jean intervened to make sure the Novistador was dead for good.

Kevin had his Glock 21 Mariner at the ready, gripping the pistol at a Weaver stance. He saw the Novistador try and charge at Eriko and Jill. Shooting at it from the back, the brown-haired DSO agent watched the Novistador tumble onto the ground, face first. Jill aimed her Beretta Px4 Type F and fired her sidearm at the downed Novistador until it squealed in pain.

The others simply stayed back since those who had faced off against the Novistadors were already doing a good job.

* * *

><p>Corridor, outside StorageValve Room, Cell Block, Sewers, Keep, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain

* * *

><p>After Sho and Hiryu had downed the two Novistadors, two more came down from the ceiling to surprise them.<p>

"Ikkuzo!" Sho yelled out at the top of his voice, cutting one of the Novistadors diagonally with Lightning Light. He had previously dodged the Novistador's slashing attacks towards his chest.

"Hah!" Hiryu went for a backfist, stunning the second Novistador before shooting it up. After it went down, Hiryu continued to fire his weapon at it until he heard the Novistador squeal.

"Clear!" Hiryu shouted when he reloaded his G36C.

"All clear from our part..." Sho said, still gripping onto Lightning Light. "Let's go and see the others."

* * *

><p>Cell Block, Sewers, Keep, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"Yo..." Hien greeted Hiryu after the latter arrived with Sho.<p>

"Missed me?" Hiryu sarcastically greeted Hien, the latter who had been reloading his Pindad SS1-M5 Commando.

"Not really. I just had some fun back there."

"Speak for yourself." Martin sighed, stretching his arms. "Those damn insects nearly took us by surprise."

"How many?" Sho asked.

"We got three." Leon told the ninja after he had just reloaded the last buckshot round.

"Not the challenge." Jean commented after he reloaded a few buckshot rounds onto his SPAS-12. "Although I have to admit that those buggers are quite scary if you haven't met them for the first time."

"So everything all clear?" Cammy asked.

"It appears so." Chun-Li replied. "The water already receded and there's a door visible."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Kevin spoke out when he leaped down to the subfloor.

"Wow." Jill whistled. "Kevin's pretty quick on the go."

"Yeah." Leon shrugged his shoulders. "Who knew?"

The others followed Kevin after they collected all the available eye shards from the dead Novistadors. Kevin had the honor of kicking the cell door blocking their way.

* * *

><p>Lower Level, Sewers, Keep, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"All clear."<p>

Kevin gestured to his comrades that the path was clear, running across the water-covered floor and up the staircase.

"Go ahead!" Sho leaped up and used Lightning Light to stab a Novistador that waited on the ceiling, kiling it even before its corpse touched the ground.

Leon kicked the barrels open to pick up 1300 pesetas.

"Wait! Wait!" Martin shouted after the Novistador was killed by the ninja. "I know we need to rescue the President's daughter, but can't we take a break for four minutes? I need to catch my breath."

"Alright." Leon replied while he nodded to Kevin.

"I believe this lamp has some areas where things can be attached." Hiryu presented the lamp that he carried.

"Will this do?" Sho landed on the floor with his feet touching it while he picked up the falled Green Eye shard.

"Thank you, sensei." Hiryu got the Green Eye shard and inserted it into the Butterfly Lamp.

"I believe that we can use this to combine with another herb." Sho presented the Green Herb to Jill.

"Ah thanks." Jill got the herb from the ninja.

"Here." Eriko gave the Yellow Herb to Jill. "I found this in one of the empty cells."

"Looks like we got some health supplements next to the six First Aid Sprays, plus the one that's gonna run out."

"Can you hand me one of the sprays then?" Diana asked Leon. "Java's got some injuries on his knuckles."

"Knock yourself out." Leon tossed the almost empty First Aid Spray to Diana. The teenaged girl got and began to shake the can up and down.

"Hold still Java and don't move your hand, okay?"

Java nodded.

"Here goes." Diana began to use the First Aid Spray to heal up Java's injuries.

Tea collected most of the shards taken from the dead Novistadors and began to work with Hiryu in setting the Blue and Red Eye shards onto the Butterfly Lamp.

Kevin and some of the others who had used small arms to fight off the Novistadors took a few seconds to reload their weapons, either because the current magazine they had was about to run out of ammo or they just used the bullets they collected to refill their empty magazines since they don't have the luxury of throwing them away, which meant that every bullet counted.

"All done?" Chun-Li asked when she was watching Tea work on the Butterfly Lamp.

"All done." Tea showed everyone the Butterfly Lamp with the attached eye shards.

"Looks like this can fetch up a lot of money with the merchant." Dan said before he gave a whistle to admire the newly updated Butterfly Lamp.

"Indeed it will." Tea said before she kept the lamp.

"Do you know where she keeps that and the other items we pick up?" Leon asked Yu and Jean.

The two Spriggans looked at each others and simply shrugged their shoulders.

"You're good as new, Java." Diana saw that Java's wounds have healed up. She placed spray down on the floor since it was empty.

"Thank you, Diana." Java was happy that the spray worked.

"No problem."

"Come on you guys, we're almost out of the area."

Cammy told her allies before she kicked the metal door open, which led them to...

* * *

><p>Swinging Blade Room, Keep, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>The group was greeted by the sight of swinging blade in a motion similar to the Pendulum.<p>

"Holy sh-t!" Yu was the first to react by shouting out his frustration when he saw the Pendulum-style blades blocking their way. "We can't just walk pass through them at once!"

"Of course not!" Jean slapped the back of Yu's head, also angered by what he saw. "Be calm and use your head."

"The only way out is to move in one at a time." Sho advised the Spriggans. "A perfect trap as laid out by our host."

"I remember how SHADOW training consisted of something like this." Dan groaned, remembering the days of how he, Mark and the first-generation SHADOW agents were forced to go through a very hard obstacle course that included pendulum blades.

"Yeah, I know." Hiryu sighed. "I also remember that the course was designed to weed out any potential SHADOW recruit out of the game."

"I guess he's right." Hien patted Hiryu's shoulder. "Not like there's another way that we can use to get out of this mess."

"Follow my lead."

Sho told the group as he showed them that being slow and careful can help you get past the swinging blades. The others followed them with Java being a bit late since he almost messed up with the jump since he's not agile. Fortunately for him that Sho and Fujino that they were able to help him out with the latter using her manipulation skills, using her Mystic Eyes of Distortion to twist the chains that were holding the swinging blades up with Sho cutting them up to pieces so that they won't harm him when he assists Java in getting up the platform.

Jill kicked the metal door on the other side of the room, leading them to a small room with a ladder. Most of them got in and began to climb up before they were greeted by a couple of barrels and another door. The brown-haired woman got the barrels open with her kicks to pick up a Spinel.

Sho stopped momentarily to pick up a Velvet Blue he found on the ground.

* * *

><p>Upper Floor, Temple, Keep, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>The group found themselves back at the very same area they were before Ashley was caught in a wall trap.<p>

"Well, isn't this a very familiar sight?" Kevin sarcastically remarked about their room they're in.

"Be quiet." Eriko told Kevin to stop talking. "Listen."

The group could also hear some chanting from the lower floor.

"Is that in Spanish?" Fujino asked Eriko.

"I think so."

Kevin and Leon crept up on the ledge and went to see what was happening downstairs. The two DSO agents saw that most of the floors was already transformed into a makeshift altar with the cult's monks making chants with a sword's blade driven onto the tablecloth with red blood on it, its handle having the insignia of Los Illuminados. In addition, a couple of torches were seen decorating the sides of the makeshift altars. A few of them had black robes with one having a red robe and a pendant worn on his neck.

"Over there." Leon pointed out the pendant on the red robe-wearing monk while the black monks were bowing.

"So how do we get that pendant off that crazy bastard down there?" Kevin asked his partner.

"I think I remember that we took inventory of a grenade or two..."

* * *

><p>Command Center, Field Operations Support Division, DSO Headquarters, somewhere in Virginia, United States of America<p>

* * *

><p><strong>"Talk to me."<strong>

Hunnigan had received word that Bruce was trying to make contact with her.

**"Nothing much, except that the scientist we interrogated is just a newbie recently recruited by CIHL."**

**"Anything else?"  
><strong>

**"He just pissed himself out of fear during the shootout between us and the CIHL tac teams sent to kill us."  
><strong>

Hunnigan wondered if it was such a good idea for Bruce to let her know in the transmission about that little detail.

_God. Just when I got the important details from Bruce..._

**"Alright. Just make sure to transport him back to base. You know the usual protocol."**

**"Understood FOS. Bruce out."  
><strong>

* * *

><p>Secret Laboratory, below Mountain Ridge Community College, Roanoke, Virginia, United States of America<p>

* * *

><p>"We have our orders!"<p>

Bruce shouted to the DSO tac team assaulters after he ended his transmission with DSO HQ.

"What do we do with this guy here?" One of the assaulters asked Bruce, who was still handcuffed for security reasons.

Bruce took a good look at the scientist. He then said to the assaulters. "Make sure his cuffs are secured. Afterwards, gag him and cover up his head. We're bringing him back to HQ for additional interrogation."

"Understood." The assaulters replied in unison.

"Hey! Hey! What are you doing...!" The scientist was now beginning to protest when one of the assaulters placed masking tape over his mouth to shut him up, which was conveniently found on top of one of the working tables in the lab. Another one had secured the scientist by placing a blindfold over his eyes, which was followed by placing a hood over his blindfolded eyes for an extra security measure.

* * *

><p>Upper Floor, Temple, Keep, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"So how do we play this?" Leon asked Kevin for tactical advise in taking out the opposition at the lower floor of the temple.<p>

"The grenade idea can work." Kevin told Leon before he prepared to shoulder his SSG P IV to peer through the riflescope. "Just leave the rest of the sniping work to me, although I suggest that the others with rifles provide suppressive fire."

Leon nodded and motioned to Yu and anyone else with an assault fire to come see him. The ex-RPD SPF officer was given the incendiary grenade acquired before.

"Here goes nothing." Kevin murmured after he gave the signal to Leon to pop in the grenade when he's ready to do so.

Leon nodded to Kevin after he got a good on the grip before the former began to secure the safety pin. Giving it a good tug, Leon hurled the primed grenade at the lower floor, watching it land near the small Los Illuminados congregation.

The monks saw the grenade land in the center of the group, but wondered what kind of thing it was. When one of them decided to pick up the primed incendiary grenade in order to get a closer look, it exploded in his hands. It resulted in the black robe-wearing monks being burned to death.

"FIRE!" Kevin gave the order, allowing Yu and the other assault rifle-armed allies to immediately open fire and bring down a fiery rain on the cultists.

The plan was working. The monks didn't know what had happened to them. The black robed-monks were being killed in the hail of gunfire while being burned to death.

However, the red monk was still standing even though he was burning. Kevin peered through the riflescope and took aim at the monk's bone mask. As soon as Kevin fired the shot, he saw that the bone mask had cracked open. After seeing the monk's exposed face, the DSO agent prepared to fire his silenced sniper rifle again.

But instead of doing a head shot, the subsonic 7.62 NATO bullet made impact on the monk's neck instead.

"Dammit..." Kevin muttered since he saw the plaga emerge from monk's open wound on the neck.

"I'll give you a hand, Kevin!" Jill joined in and shouldered her Heckler and Koch SL8-4. She aimed the rifle through the riflescope and began to fire 5.56 NATO bullets at the exposed parasite.

"Thanks!" Kevin retracted the bolt twice, once to remove the subsonic 7.62 NATO cartridge from the barrel after the SSG P IV was fired once to shatter the red monk's bone mask. The second time was done to remove the bullet cartridge again after the rifle was fired again to perform a headshot, which failed.

With all the shots hitting the exposed parasite, it exploded with the parasite's blood and guts splattered onto the floor. Afterwards, the red monk's body collapsed as it went on its knees before it fell down onto the floor. The bodies of the black monks dissolved into nothing after they were killed off.

"All clear!" Jill shouted after she began to reload her SL8-4.

"Clear!" Dan shouted when he ceased firing his SIG SG 552.

"Clear!" Yu said when he stopped firing his G3A3.

"Clear!" The others who had assault rifles shouted in unison when they too ceased firing.

"Let's head downstairs and check what we got." Eriko told the others, drawing out her Sig Sauer P228.

"But where do we start?" Fujino asked Eriko.

"I shall secure the other side of this floor." Sho dashed onto the chandelier and used the momentum of it as it began to move back and forth. As soon as the chandelier moved towards the other side, Sho executed a double jump to land safely.

* * *

><p>Lower Floor, Temple, Keep, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Martin and Diana were the first ones to check the lower floor of the temples, seeing around seven Spinels were on the floor where the corpses of the black monks had been.<p>

"Looks like we got ourselves a lot of things we can sell back to the Merchant." Diana commented when she knelt down next to one of the Spinels and picked it up.

"Tell me about it, Di." Martini grinned after seeing the Spinels on the ground. "I'm just wondering why these monks leave these jewels after being killed off..."

"Over here!" Leon motioned to the others on the spot where the red monk was killed. He slowly picked up the Illuminados Pendant from the man's neck.

"Check it out." Kevin said after giving a whistle, looking at the pendant.

"Look at it." Cammy said, studying the pendant. "The craftsmanship resembles the insignia of the cult. Makes it a bit creepy."

"Indeed." Fujino said when she got a good look at the pendant. "But if we could see it to the merchant, perhaps we could get a lot of money from him."

"The question is where is he?" Hiryu asked Fujino when the masked SHADOW agent heard his comrade's remarks on the object Leon had just pocketed.

"Yeah I won't bother with that one." Diana said after she pointed to the sword on the makeshift altar.

"Let's go and search the place." Jill told her allies. "The merchant couldn't be that far off from this place."

Sounds of pottery being shattered were soon heard.

"No need to be alarmed." Dan assured the others. "It's just my master breaking up pottery to pick up some valuable items."

And then there was a beat for a few seconds before the Malaysian SHADOW agent further explained.

"That is if there's anything to be found."

Then there were more sounds of Sho moving through the upper floor, which included jumping on top and from the chandelier.

"Never mind."

"I have found a switch!" Sho shouted to the others from the upper level.

"Is it safe, master?" Hiryu shouted back the question.

"We shall see." A few minutes, a clicking sound was heard when Sho pulled down the lever switch on the wall.

In response, the metal gates that sealed off a few areas on the upper floor were opened up.

"We have another place where we can go to." Tea suggested after hearing the metal gates open up.

* * *

><p>Upper Floor, Temple, Keep, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>The group got up the staircase on the left side of the keep and turned to the left side, being greeted by the waiting Merchant.<p>

"Ah, greetings strangahs!" The Merchant greeted before he gave a slight bow.

"Where were you, man?" Martin responded, feeling a bit upset.

"I apologize for moving from my location a while ago, strangah." The Merchant tried his best to comfort Martin by patting his left shoulder. "But the monks you've killed had forced me to move since they were performing a ceremony."

"I'm not going to ask that." Diana told the Merchant of her answer.

"I wanna." Martin was about to raise his hand when Kevin placed his hand on the Canadian's blonde hair.

"I'm afraid we don't have time for that." The brown-haired DSO agent said before he gazed at the ninja. "Anything you got?"

"Yes, I do." Sho nodded, standing as usual with his arms crossed on top of his chest. "In addition to picking up 1,400 pesetas, I've found what appears to be a Velvet Blue and another Elegant Mask from a treasure chest display I've just broken into a while ago."

Sho handed the Velvet Blue and the Elegant Mask to Tea, who gladly accepted them. Leon had given the Illuminados Pendant to Tea as well.

"I shall see if we have extra gems that we can put into the second Elegant Mask." Tea told her allies. "In the meantime, let's barter with the items that we got right now, especially the pendant Mr. Kennedy had just acquired."

The British Spriggan agent present the Velvet Blue and the Illuminados Pendant to the Merchant.

"Ah..." The Merchant was very pleased to see the Illuminados Pendant when Tea showed it to him. "I'll buy it at a high price!"

"For how much, my good man?"

The Merchant taught how Tea's question very carefully before he told her his decision.

"I'll take that pendant out of your hands for only 12,000 pesetas. How does that sound?"

"Yeah, sure." Leon nodded.

"Sounds good to me." Kevin nodded.

"Why not?" Jill nodded.

The others gave a collective nod, having no objection to the price offered by the Merchant to buy the Illuminados Pendant.

"Then I shall offer the pendant to you for a price of 12,000 pesetas."

Tea then sold another Velvet Blue for 2,500 pesetas.

"Anything else that we can sell to our Merchant friend?" Eriko asked Tea.

"I shall check my personal inventory." Tea said. Aside from remembering to put another Purple Gem onto the Elegant Mask, she presented the Butterfly Lamp to the Merchant with all the eye shards inserted.

"Ah..." The Merchant was very pleased to see the lamp in her hands. "I'll buy it at a high price!"

"And that will be..."

"For you, my good lady..." The Merchant began to reply to Tea. "I'll buy it for 32,000 pesetas."

Everyone was shocked to hear how much the Merchant was willing to go to buy the lamp from them.

"Pretty nice if you ask me." Jill chuckled when she heard the price.

"Looks like this is going quite nicely for us." Dan grinned when he watched Tea hand over the Butterfly Lamp to the Merchant.

"As long as we got that much money, we can buy anything from the merchant himself." Yu said out loud, shrugging his shoulders afterwards.

"I presume that the next order of business for us is to reload our guns." Kevin said while he began to reload with whatever ammo he got for his SSG P IV. "I'm not sure if I'm running short, but I just wanna play it safe."

"The same goes for me." Leon chimed in, loading up 12 gauge buckshots for his M3. "I'm just lucky that I got enough ammo for my shotgun."

The Merchant was kind enough to offer Tea some bottled water.

"Some bottled water?" The Merchant asked. "Of course, this will be free of charge."

"As usual." Tea told the merchant as she accepted his offer. Tea tossed another bottled water to Jean.

"Very strange that the merchant would offer this to us on the house." The French Spriggan commented after catching the bottled water tossed to him by Tea.

"Why? You want us to pay for it in the first place?"

Jean didn't answer his comrade. Instead, he removed the cap from the bottled water and consumed it.

"Hey, Bonaqua." Hien said as he took the bottled water from the merchant. He then examined the label. "And it's from Hong Kong?"

The Merchant didn't answer like Jean. Instead, he opted to shrug his shoulders.

"Kinda weird." Eriko murmured before she took a sip from the Bonaqua bottled water. _But it's not that bad actually..._

"Alright, I'm now officially going to take my time with my reloading." Hiryu declared out loud as he began to insert a fresh magazine for his G36C. "I just need to find me a seat that I can use to sit on for the meantime. I could use a break here."

"Just sit down here." Dan insisted, using his left foot to emphasis the location of the steps behind him. He was busy doing a reload for his SG 552.

* * *

><p>Somewhere in Madrid, Spain<p>

* * *

><p><strong>"We're moving in now, over. Suspect just went inside one of the apartments."<strong>

A four-man team wearing windbreakers and jeans moved in towards an apartment that Wesker had just moved into after being surveilled by a team from the Center's Special Reaction Squad or SRS for short. They were simply armed with pistols, collapsible batons and had earpieces on their ears.

"What about the guys from the National Police Corp?" One of the SRS agents asked, who was in his late 30s and was of Caucasian origin with his usual blonde hair and skin.

"MOM cleared it up with them that we'll take the lead." Another SRS agent of Southeast Asian descent told his colleague. "Besides, we need to take this bastard in to get some answers on why we can't make contact with our guys."

"In position." Another Caucasian SRS agent warned his comrades to stack up near the door. As soon as the gesture was given to move in, he used his boot-clad foot to kick the door open hard.

"GO! GO! GO!" The agents got inside, only to be met by an explosion that killed all four of them.

From a distance, Wesker found safety in the streets thanks to his superhuman strength and agility. After getting in the apartment, he used his agility to escape. The blonde man was very careful to set a trap at the apartment since he knew that sooner or later, someone would go after him. After all, it was better to be safe than to be sorry.

Wesker later hailed a taxi and told the driver to proceed to the Madrid–Barajas Airport immediately.

* * *

><p>Upper Floor, Temple, Keep, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"Mind if I ask how long have you been doing this kind of work?"<p>

Jill had directed the question to Dan, who had just acquired a bit of extra ammo for his SG 552 since he didn't use his Heckler & Koch USP Expert until the group met the merchant in the Keep.

"Me?" Dan asked Jill, who simply nodded. "Well, I've been a SHADOW agent with the Center for a while now..."

"But what about him?" Jill nudged her head towards Hiryu, who was talking to Hien and the Spriggans while Tea sold all of the unused Green, Red and Blue Eye shards to the Merchant for additional pesetas for a total of 162,000 pesetas.

"If I recall," Dan started to explain when he began to place the last reloaded 30-round magazine into his tactical vest after being assisted by the Merchant a few minutes ago. "he started working with the Center a bit earlier than me. But..."

"I knew there was something else going on here." Leon sighed when he heard Dan say the word "But". Not the word "Butt" by the way.

"There's word from within us guys in SHADOW that he was chosen to be a Center agent for a specific reason before MOM became the head of the Center."

"You mean like a special ability or something?"

The Malaysian SHADOW agent shrugged. "I guess so. He never told me what it was. He's a nice guy, but he doesn't blab much on his private life when he's with us. He's a bit selective."

"Do you know something else about it?" Jill raised the question to Dan.

Dan thought about Jill's second question. He wanted to answer her, but so far Dan had been very carefully to tell them what he knew about Hiryu. Especially when it comes to his relationship to the masked SHADOW agent during their time together in several anti-crime/terrorist ops against criminals and terrorists who wished to use the paranormal or make contact with aliens already on Earth to use their knowledge to further their activities. The only thing Dan wanted to do right now is to screen himself carefully so as not to say anything that could give away Hiryu's actual identity. Well, there is a reason why he had a balaclava on after all.

"This is just a rumor." Dan began to explain to Jill. "But I heard that the previous head of the Center recruited Hiryu after an incident when he was in his early teens."

"What kind of incident?" Leon asked Dan, raising an eyebrow after hearing Dan's answer. _That does... sound interesting. Something to look at perhaps._

"Let's just say that I'm not that privy enough to discuss that with you guys." Dan replied, loading up a 5.56 NATO bullet into the chamber after pulling the SG 552's bolt. "I'm sorry, but you guys'll have to ask him that."

"Everyone finished loading their weapons?" Kevin called to the others after he loaded a fresh magazine onto his SSG P IV.

"Yeah, we're done here." Leon told Kevin, patting his M3 for emphasis.

"Good." Kevin grinned after he worked the bolt of the SSG P IV. "'Cause I was starting to get a bit impatient, even if we did get some time to rest."

"Don't forget the fact that some of us went out of our way to take a leak..." Martin reminded Kevin.

Yu sighed, slapping his face. "I can't believe that you said that."

"Yes." Chun-Li agreed with the Japanese Spriggan. "That is highly inappropriate."

"Aside from Martin's stupidity here..." Hiryu was near Martin and gave him a head slap at the back of his head, earning him an "OW" reaction from the Center agent. "are we all done?"

"I guess we're all good." Cammy said, stretching her arms in front.

"We should continue on." Fujino told her allies, pointing to the door next to the merchant. "Starting from that red door."

"Let's go then."

Jean and Leon got their shotguns ready and stacked up at the red door. Leon placed a hand on Jean's right shoulder. A few seconds later, Leon gave Jean's shoulder a hard pat, meaning that it's time to move in.

The others subsequently followed the two after Jean kicked the door open with his boot-clad foot.

* * *

><p>Ground Floor, Small Foyer, Keep, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"Clear!"<p>

"Clear!"

Jean and Leon were the first ones to advance down the small hallway, leading to a small area with a cabinet, some chairs and paintings. There was a staircase leading up.

"Over here." Jill secured the Red Herb she found from a side table.

"Nice painting." Diana said when she looked at the painting.

"Except that we don't have time to admire it." Dan reminded her. "Let's go."

Dan was the first to slowly advance up the staircase, shouldering his SG 552. He hoped that the way ahead was clear of any hostiles.

* * *

><p>Second Floor, Small Foyer, Keep, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Dan finally got up to the end of the staircase, checking out the second floor. He found more painting, chairs, a small round table and a door leading outside.<p>

"All clear." Dan told his allies that the staircase leading up is clear of hostiles.

"Let's see what's up here." Yu said, being the next person to get up the staircase.

"I got something." Leon was next to ascend the staircase, approaching one of the chairs to see a box of pistol bullets. He checked it out and saw that it was for .45 ACP-based pistols. "Kevin!"

"Yeah, what is it?" Kevin asked, already upstairs.

"Catch. It's for you."

Leon tossed the small box of .45 ACP bullets to Kevin.

"Thanks very much, Leon." Kevin thanked his DSO partner when he took the box from Leon after catching it. "I'll be sure to put in a good word for you."

Leon raised an eyebrow. "And you think that can work?"

"Of course it can." Kevin insisted, waving a hand to show that he means business.

"Got something here." Chun-Li inspected the roundtable and picked up some papers. "As usual, it's in Spanish."

"Allow me." Eriko's fluency in Spanish has been very useful to the team that they gave her the responsibility of using Spanish if they come across anything that requires the use of that language.

"Here you are." Chun-Li handed the memo to the Japanese detective.

"No problem." Eriko began to check the memo, which was a memo about the Castellan of the Salazar Castle. "Guys, I need a few minutes to read this up. There may something here that can of intelligence value."

Chapter 15 END

* * *

><p>PS - Another one for ya, folks! Been busy this Fall of 2012 that I didn't post it. Although I did post a fic story on Jormungand to pass up on whatever time I got, that's not a priority and I plan to update whenever I want to. Plus, it's a fic with many crossovers planned for it via chapter. Otherwise, it's been quite the few months for me. Especially since I'm trying to get back to university with the required GPA to do so. I've been making some progress, but not much.<p>

I invite all the readers to review this chapter and let me know it is. Also, I wish to invite my readers to read up on my Jormungand story called "The Stories" and review it whenever you get the chance. Means a lot. Thanks! I have some planned chapters containing more crossovers after that. I don't know if I can get a Jormungand story out there since I'm not sure if I have the time these days.

Otherwise, feel free to review this chapter in Hostage Rescue and let me know how it is. Thanks. I guess the next one is either The Stories or Peacekeepers, whichever is convenient for me to do another chapter I guess.

Have a good 2013 and happy new year!

* * *

><p>Pesetas in Total = 162,000<p> 


	16. Castle Quarters Combat, Part 2

Resident Evil/Biohazard: Hostage Rescue

Rating: T

NOTE:

All characters of Resident Evil/Captain Commando/Street Fighter are under the copyright of Capcom. All characters of Martin Mystery are under the copyright of Marathon. All characters of Kara no Kyokai are under the copyright of TYPE-MOON. All characters of Spriggan are under the copyright of Hiroshi Takashige and Ryoji Minagawa. All characters of Jiraishin are under the copyright of Tsutomu Takahashi. The appearance of Kenneth "Kenny" Feng is under noctorro's jurisdiction. All others are under my jurisdiction.

Summary:

A big blow to the Center had taken place after Wesker had just evaded capture. Meanwhile in Spain, the group had been able to escape the threat of the Novistadors for the meantime. Moving deeper into the keep of Salazar Castle, they intend to escape and continue finding the First Daughter. Can they leave the castle while being under attack 24/7? Stay tune to this chapter to find out.

Chapter 16: Castle Quarters Combat, Part 2

* * *

><p>Second Floor, Small Foyer, Keep, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"Something the matter, Eriko?"<p>

Chun-Li asked Eriko after the former heard the latter speak up to say that she needed a few minutes to read up on a newly discovered memo in the small foyer.

Leon gestured to anyone with an assault rifle or a shotgun to secure the area for the meantime until Eriko was able to get a good read on the memo.

Eriko nodded to Chun-Li in reply. "Looks like a memo on the Salazar family and its relation to Las Plagas."

The Japanese detective began to read over the memo carefully.

**For many years the Salazar family has served as the castellans of this castle. However, not everything is bright, for my ancestry has a dark past. **

** Long ago there once was a religious group that had deep roots in this region called the Los Illuminados. Unjustly however, the first castellan of the castle took away their rights and powers.**

** As a follower of this religion and as the 8th Castellan, I felt that it was my duty as well as my responsibility to atone for that sin.**

** I knew the best way to atone for that sin was to give power back to those who we once took it away from, the Los Illuminados.**

** As expected it took a little time, but we were able to rejuvenate the once sealed Las Plagas. With this success I was one step closer to the revival of the Los Illuminados.**

** The reason why I released the Las Plagas from deep under the castle and gave them to Lord Saddler was not only to repay for the sins of my ancestors but I felt certain that the Lord would make better use of this power to help save the world.**

** To save those that have sinned with the power of the Las Plagas and to cleanse the their souls creating a world without sinners. The way it was meant to be. Once cleansed, they would become one of the many Ganados where they will find their reason to live.**

** And after the Lord has succeeded in creating the world in which he has envisioned, then the sins of my Salazar family will be atoned for.**

After reading over the memo, Eriko became greatly alarmed on its content.

"Something the matter?" Kevin asked the detective.

Eriko slowly nodded. "It reads like a confession. Probably came from the current Salazar family head." She then continued to explain the memo's contents. "It also talks about his delusions in working with the cult to use the parasite to infect people from beyond Spanish territory."

"Great." Hiryu sighed. "We got a pro-religious wacko who's willing to go above and beyond to make sure we get affected by parasites."

"So what do we do?" Diana asked after she heard what the memo was about.

"We go in." Fujino promptly answered the Canadian teenager. "And we eliminate the source of the threat."

"That may be true." Yu replied to Fujino before he eyed Leon and Kevin. "But I'm pretty sure that elimination isn't the main objective of these two DSO agents."

"Same thing goes with some of the ladies too." Jean added to back up the Japanese Spriggan's answer for emphasis.

"I guess we need to worry about that." Dan told Jean. "And concentrate on getting out of this castle alive before we start thinking about answers to any questions that we can come up with."

"Stack up on the door." Hien motioned to Leon and Kevin to the door. The two DSO agents moved in with Leon armed with his Benelli M3 and Kevin armed, for the meantime, with his Glock 21 Mariner. Hien backed up the armed agents with his Pindad SS1-M5 Commando assault carbine.

Leon signaled to Kevin and Hien that he would take the lead in opening the door to wherever it would lead them.

The others awaited, with those armed with small arms being ready to fire if they have to.

"Here goes." Leon murmured, using his right hand to grip the pistol grip of the M3 while using the left hand to open the door.

Pushing the door with his palm, Kevin gestured to the others to duck and keep their heads down after they get pass the open door.

* * *

><p>Square-shaped Staircase, Keep, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Leon, Kevin and company had kept their heads down as told, seeing three cultists on a staircase landing outfitted with skull-type mask. Although the exception is the red cultist who had a ram-type mask with something shining around his neck.<p>

The group took cover behind a walled ledge made up of concrete with elegant ceramic tiles that decorated them.

"That's going to be a long distance for us to cover." Jill said when she drew out her Beretta Px4 Type F. "As usual, Kevin and I can provide sniper support to clear the way."

"Not a problem with me." Kevin replied when he gave the thumbs up.

"Some of us will need to provide suppressive fire." Hiryu suggested.

"The rest will circle around the area and make sure it's clear of enemies." Yu spoke up as he shouldered his Heckler & Koch G3A3 assault rifle.

"Can anything be used against our _friends_?" Cammy asked as Jill and Kevin prepared to do sniping duties.

"Just give me a few seconds here." Kevin shouldered his Steyr SSG P IV and scanned the area ahead to see if there is anything that the brown-haired sharpshooter can fire at with his sniper rifle.

_Let's see... Let's see..._

Minutes later, Kevin peered through the Leupold scope to see a red barrel sitting right next to the three cultists. It was being blocked by the railing, which was preventing him from getting a good shot.

"Looks like a flammable barrel. But I'll need a better shot."

"Can you shoot it?" Jill asked Kevin as she made preparations to shoulder her Heckler & Koch SL8-4.

"I could. Just give me a few seconds, Jill."

"Alright, but you need to hurry."

"I know that."

Kevin concentrated on looking through the mounted riflescope, trying to take aim at the red flammable barrel he just spotted.

_Almost there... Almost there..._

With a few minutes of concentrating, the ex-RPD SPF officer felt confident that he could get a good shot without being attacked as long as the ledge would provide him some good protection.

"Jill. Cover me when shooting starts."

"Got it, Kevin."

Kevin gave a deep breath, inhaling before exhaling while staring through the riflescope.

With no provision of a bipod, Kevin had no choice but to steadily aim his weapon with his hands. The man knew that he was a good shot, no matter which position he was in in handling small arms.

But he never had experienced being under fire in such a long time since his supposed day in joining the SPF was botched to a zombie attack in Raccoon City.

Kevin pulled the trigger of the SSG P IV very hard to make sure that a suppressed shot from his sniper rifle in detonating the flammable barrel he spotted. He looked through the scope to see that the explosion had taken out the two cultists wearing skull masks. However, the cultist wearing the ram mask was not injured, although he only tumbled down onto the ground.

"We got you guys covered! Go ahead and clear the place!"

* * *

><p>Interrogation Room, DSO Headquarters, somewhere in Virginia, United States of America<p>

* * *

><p>Bruce had just entered one of the DSO HQ's many interrogation rooms, already guarded by two DSO agents armed in tac gear with the exception that they are armed with pistols instead of assault rifles. In addition, the scientist they brought back in was still in his blindfold with the hood already removed. His right wrist was also handcuffed to one of the 4x4 table's legs to make sure he won't escape.<p>

The blond-haired DSO agent gestured to one of the agents to remove the cuffs since he was about to begin interrogation at once.

"Take off the blindfold too." Bruce gave out his instruction.

"Yes, sir." The DSO agent nodded, obeying the instruction. He approached the scientist and took off his blindfold.

"U..Um..." The scientist asked. "Should I be requesting for the presence of a lawyer now or something?"

"I doubt it." Bruce showed the scientist printed documents and pictures to the man from across the table. "And since I'm working for a special organization that tackles bioterrorist cases like the one that happened in Raccoon City, I pretty much doubt that a lawyer can be brought here to talk on your behalf."

"W-what?" The scientist could not believe what he had just heard from Bruce.

"But there is something that may work out towards your advantage."

"And what is it?"

"Cooperate. That's all I ask. Tell me what you know about the facility you work in and the organization you work for." Bruce then leaned in. "Otherwise..."

"Okay! Okay!"

The African-American man, who was in his 30s, panicked when Bruce said "otherwise". He knew that Bruce wasn't a bad person, but he needed to do something. To tell him that that he wasn't that actively involved with the CIHL.

"Fine. I'll come clean with what I know."

Bruce leaned back in his chair and sighed, knowing that interrogation would probably be an easy one.

"Finally. This'll be an easy one."

* * *

><p>Square-shaped Staircase, Keep, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"Go! Go! And stay down!" Kevin shouted his instructions while he and Jill conducted suppressive fire to gun down any crossbow-armed cultists.<p>

Leon and Jean were the first ones to move out, since they were armed with shotguns and that they would be fighting in close quarters.

_Get ready. _Jean gestured to Leon to ready his shotgun after facing off against a crossbow-armed cultist on foot. Also, having shotguns loaded with buckshots would make it easier for them to gun the cultists down when they get in since they're going to fight as a part of CQC. With weapons of course.

_Looks clear so far. _Leon surmised while staying low, gesturing to the others to stay back until he and the French Spriggan could clear the way first.

The two shotgun-wielding men stayed crouched, shouldering their weapons while taking a few seconds to peek in each and every nook to see if there are armed cultists waiting for them to show up before a lit crossbow bolt was fired.

They were able to ascertain the situation when a cultist armed with a morningstar was about to climb up the small steps in front.

"Screw this!" Leon opened fire with his M3 at the flammable barrel, blowing it up and using its explosion to kill the cultist. The window nearby was also blown up due to the explosion, allowing the two a small opportunity to use it as a small maneuvering point to move around.

Jill and Kevin continued to provide sniper support, taking down a crossbow-armed cultist who aimed his weapon at the sniper before he was taken down. Leon and Jean hopped over where the window was, which was now broken. Seeing a cultist just standing there with a morningstar, Leon and Jean focused their fire on him until he dissolved into nothing.

"Inside!" Jean advised as he got to the door, kicking it open and aiming his Franchi SPAS-12 before motioning to Leon that the room was clear.

* * *

><p>Second Floor, Small Foyer, Keep, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"Looks like something."<p>

Leon spotted a couple of wooden barrels on the side, using his M3's solid buttstock to break them open. One of them had nothing in it, but another had 1100 pesetas.

"Up there." Jean shouldered his SPAS-12, firing the weapon on semi-auto as he climbed up the long staircase, making each buckshot fire even more deadlier each time he stepped closer to a cultist who was just standing on top of the staircase.

The cultist dropped on his knees before he fell onto the side, dissolving again into nothing like usual.

"All clear on top." Jean told Leon when the latter joined the former, who also pointed to the door in front of him.

"Cover my back while I open the door." Leon moved near the door, putting his hand on it to see if it was rigged with a trap. Once it was clear of any traps, he kicked the door open, which would lead them into the balcony.

* * *

><p>Interrogation Room, DSO Headquarters, somewhere in Virginia, United States of America<p>

* * *

><p>Bruce continued his interrogation on the CIHL scientist while taking down notes. But he decided to ask the scientist on the notes he wrote down a few hours ago.<p>

"So you're saying you're with an organization that is trying to do anti-paranormal work and somehow, decided to collect mythological monsters in some big operation a few months ago."

"T-that's right." The scientist nodded.

"And you found out about this after you were recruited to work for a Ms. Octavia Paine?"

The scientist nodded again.

"May I ask when you didn't squeal about this matter?"

"She has a serious intelligence network in place. Because of that, I can't even tell anyone about that operation."

Bruce pondered on what the man had just said. His first instinct was to call BS, but considering the way the man interacted with him, it's safe to say that the man didn't know what he got into.

"I see. Do you have anything you can say about the CIHL's intelligence network?"

"No. I can't verify much except on rumors since I'm only a field scientist."

_It seems I'm not going to go anywhere with this interrogation._

* * *

><p>Balcony, Square-shaped Staircase, Keep, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Leon and Jean arrived on the balcony that was over the square-shaped staircase, which would typically give them an advantage over the enemy. But right now, they are needed to secure the area that they haven't explored yet, which would also include killing all the cultists since they're working under Saddler.<p>

The two could hear gunshots from the ground, which came from the sniper rifles of Jill and Kevin. The two sharpshooters gunned down a crossbow-armed cultist after he was sighted aiming his weapon at Leon.

"Let's go round." Leon told Jean as he took the lead before he shouldered his M3.

"Right." Jean shouldered his SPAS-12 when he followed Leon.

The two went around the balcony, aiming their weapons in front as they advanced, eyeing the metallic-like barrier in front.

_What the? _Leon was dumbfounded to see that a metallic barrier was in the way, but there was a ledge that they can use to drop down into one of the staircase landings/balconies in the room.

"He's getting away." Jean said, seeing the red cultist running towards the barrier from the other side.

"Stay there. I'll clear the way from the back." Leon got to the open space, which didn't have any kind of ledge on it. The DSO agent used the open space to jump down to the staircase landing/balcony and tried to fire his M3 at at the fleeing cultist with his M3. Seeing a cultist with a wooden shield nearby, Leon fired his M3 at him until he could destroy his shield in order to kill him with buckshots. The body melted to leave behind a box of 9mm bullets, which Leon took without any hesitation.

"Dammit. For a cultist, he's moving pretty fast." Leon kept firing the M3 until the cultist was able to run up the staircase, which allowed the metallic barrier to open up.

"Surprise." Jean smiled when he aimed the SPAS-12 at the fleeing cultist. He fired the weapon, doing so to empty the shotgun until the cultist was gunned down. Thanks to the ambush, the French Spriggan was able to restrict the cultist's movement. This allowed the lycanthrope to get the jump on the cultist and kill him before the masked man could further get away.

"Got him?" Leon asked Jean when he emptied his shotgun at the red cultist.

"Indeed. I'm done." Jean lowered his weapon.

"Finally. I just need to reload my shotgun."

They quickly reloaded their shotguns since they were empty and that their immediate area has been clear of enemies.

"Let's go and check on what the cultist has on his neck."

Jean began to approach the body of the red cultist to check for anything of importance after he reloaded his SPAS-12. The French Spriggan knelt down next to the red cultist's corpse and examined it.

"A key." Jean showed Leon the Gallery Key.

"Let's go and search the place." Leon said to Jean when he started to search their area, picking up a box of .45 ACP bullets and 4000 pesetas, with 1000 pesetas each.

* * *

><p>Square-shaped Staircase, Keep, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"We're all good."<p>

Kevin told the others when he and Jill started to reload their sniper rifles.

"Let's go and check those vases for anything useful." Hiryu said out loud as he broke a vase with the buttstock of his Heckler & Koch G36C. He found nothing inside when he smashed it open.

Java and Martin began their work when they smashed the vases, the former with his clenched bare hands and the latter with his X-Rod. The two checked out the contents of the broken vases to reveal a Velvet Blue, a Green Herb, a box of 5.56 NATO ammo and pesetas worth 2400 in total.

"Shall we move then?" Tea asked, now knowing that the coast is clear of hostiles.

* * *

><p>Balcony, Square-shaped Staircase, Keep, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>The others were able to rendezvous with Leon and Jean, picking up a box of 7.62 NATO subsonic ammo on the way.<p>

"Good to see you." Leon greeted Kevin. "And thanks for the sniper support."

Jean wasn't talking to anyone since he was using the Gallery Key to unlock the door on the floor to see if it works.

"Not a problem." Kevin turned to see Jean working on the locked door. "Anything?"

"Should be almost done."

"Hopefully this can lead us somewhere." Eriko said out loud, preparing her Sig Sauer P228 after she drew it out of her holster.

"And voilà." Jean said, grinning at his simple work. "We have unlocked this door." The ponytailed man discarded the key onto the floor, finding no need for it.

"Stack up." Leon pointed to the unlocked door, leaning on the wall near the door. Jean, Yu and others with an assault rifle or a pistol joined up with the blonde DSO agent.

_Alright. Here we go._

Leon pushed the door slightly open before he kicked it with his left foot to catch anyone in the room by surprise.

"OKAY! MOVE IN!"

* * *

><p>Small Room, Keep, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"Clear!"<p>

"Clear!"

Leon was the first to get in the small room filled with painting, followed by Kevin, Eriko and Jill.

"Looks like no one's in here." Kevin said out when he holstered his sidearm.

"Except for these paintings." Hiryu pointed out the paintings when he, Hien and Dan followed behind to cover their rear. A few seconds later, Yu and Jean followed the three inside.

"There does not seem to be any door." Fujino said, which was obviously since the door they got in was the only way in and out.

"Those paintings are quite interesting." Martin commented when he saw the six paintings on the wall. The blonde teenager showed them off to Diana and Java, the former wondering who in his right mind would paint them.

"I will stand guard and watch." Sho said as he stood near the corner, crossing his arms on his chest.

Fujino proceeded to examine the other paintings for anything unusual.

"What's this?" Diana examined the pedestal in front of the six paintings.

"Can I have a look?" Eriko asked the teenager when the Japanese detective examined the pedestal for herself.

"Go ahead." Diana stepped aside in order to allow Eriko to do her work. She began to check out anything that was in Spanish.

"Thank you." Eriko thanked Diana after she had holstered her sidearm since there was nothing dangerous in the room.

_What does this one say?_

**THE SACRIFICE OF SIX LIVES SHALL MAKE WAY THE TRUE PATH.**

"What does it say?" Cammy approached Eriko while she checked out the pedestal.

"The message." Eriko explained to the Delta Red operative. "It's pretty weird."

Hiryu directed Java to smash down the vases in the room while Tea used her psychic powers to obtain a Velvet Blue. The caveman pointed out some pesetas he found worth 2600 pesetas. The Spriggans showed them to Tea, who gladly kept them once she secured the Velvet Blue.

"Yeah, I know what you mean." Cammy said while she studied, which she would only admit to herself that they look grotesque.

"Looks like we need to press these switches here too." Eriko showed Cammy one of the four switches, the same ones used to turn on the lights in an ordinary room, on the pedestal, being operated by pushing the switch from down to up. "Probably to arrange the paintings based on the message."

Leon and Kevin noted that Eriko and Cammy were busy examining the pedestal and the four paintings on the wall. The two didn't like what the paintings depicted as much as anyone else.

The paintings, from left to right, depicted someone placed on a guillotine, the crucifixion of Jesus and the two convicts on Mount Golgotha and two paintings that depicted two persons left for dead after being hanged on a noose.

"Any luck?" Kevin asked the ladies.

"None yet." Eriko shook her head. "But I'm willing to try something."

The black-haired woman flicked the first switch that corresponded to the number "1". When this happened, the two paintings showed the same painting of two people being left for dead from a noose.

"What's next?" Cammy then asked the detective.

"That doesn't work." Eriko said her thoughts out loud. "So let's go with this."

After she flicked the switch that corresponded to the number "2", Eriko and the others noted that the first and third painting showed the person under the guillotine while the second one showed the crucifixion once again.

"That didn't go so well." Leon said after he saw the paintings change.

"I better make a guess from here." Eriko sighed, feeling a headache coming up.

"I'll do this then." Cammy said, gently pushing Eriko aside as she flicked the switch that corresponded to "3". The second and third paintings showed the persons being hanged on the noose with the fourth painting showing the crucifixion.

"Dammit..." Jill muttered while watching the paintings. "I think I may be getting dizzy."

"Let's take a nosedive and try the last switch." Eriko said after she flicked the switch that corresponded to "4". The third and fourth paintings showed the same painting as the first and second paintings after the number "2" and "3" were flicked on.

The wall (The one with the four paintings) moved on the side after the switches were flicked on from left to right, revealing a previously hidden door.

"That was an interesting place to hide a door." Martin remarked, giving a while.

"Let's go." Leon urged his comrades on, motioning to the revealed door with his head.

* * *

><p>1st Floor, Gallery Room, Keep, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"This place looks quite empty."<p>

Dan commented after he entered the gallery, which didn't look like an ordinary gallery since there wasn't any paintings in the room at all.

"I wonder if this is suppose to be empty after all."

"What a pleasant surprise!"

"It's him!" Leon pointed his left index finger at the pint-size Salazar patriarch. He was, at usual, flanked his by tall and mysterious-looking bodyguards wearing cloaks and hoods. He then aimed his M3 at him. The others followed suit and aimed their small arms at Salazar.

Salazar chuckled before he continued. "But I'm afraid it's Ashley we need, not you people."

"Why you little...!" Hiryu shouldered and aimed his G36C at Salazar's forehead.

"It may come as a surprise, but I'm not little. I'm actually twenty years old."

"What? This puny guy's twenty?" Kevin faced Sho. "Did I just hear that right?"

"You heard that right." Sho told the brown-haired DSO agent in a calm manner. "Frankly, I'm very surprised as you are."

"So you're just like all the others! A puppet of the parasite?!" Leon shouted his question at Salazar, wanting to fire his M3, but deciding against it until he can learn more about the cult.

"Surely you don't think I'm the same as those dimunitive Ganados. The parasites, Las Plagas are slaves to my will. I have absolute control." Salazar said, proud of the control Las Plagas has done for him.

"Che!" Yu snarled while he aimed his G3A3 at Salazar. "As long as the likes of us are alive and kicking, we'll take you and cult one way or the other!"

In response, Salazar raised his right arm.

"Now what's he doing?" Diana was perplexed by Salazar's actions.

All of a sudden, a dozen black hooded men known as Zealots began to show up on the ground floor. And they are armed with large, sharp scythes.

"Get rid of our foreign friends." Salazar calmly said to his Zealots before he started to walk away, leaving the balcony with his bodyguards.

"What the?" Jill was stunned to see a lot of Zealots. In her response, she aimed her Px4 Type F at one of them.

"Scythes!" Sho got into a stance, feet wide apart. With the tsuka and the kashiri pointed down towards the grounds, the Ninja Commando drew out Lightning Light from its saya and had the ninjato's blade pointed at the floor as well before Sho raised it up horizontally.

"Bring out the big guns!" Jean shouted before he aimed his SPAS-12.

* * *

><p>Outside Interrogation Room, DSO Headquarters, somewhere in Virginia, United States of America<p>

* * *

><p>Bruce was now outside the interrogation room after leaving the scientist inside to collect his thoughts ever since he was brought into DSO Headquarters. He was also seen with Hunnigan outside with an electronic tablet.<p>

"Anything useful from the scientist you brought in, Bruce?" Hunnigan asked Bruce for details while she adjusted his eyeglasses.

"Nothing that can work, Hunnigan." Bruce sighed. The ex-STRATCOM massaged his temples. "Given that he's a recently recruited CIHL field scientist."

"Nothing?"

Bruce nodded.

"Well this'll make things very interesting with my report later."

"Yeah, sorry Hunnigan. Tried my best. But I'll try it again to see if the scientist has anything else to say before I submit my own report."

"Don't worry, Bruce. You're not the only one who's being pressured."

"You mean even the top brass?"

Hunnigan nodded. "President Graham's been breathing on their necks on any major updates regarding the First Daughter."

"Good thing I'm not the one who's leading the DSO." Bruce sighed, massaging his temples even harder.

The glasses-wearing woman grinned. "Perhaps you should consider a transfer from the DSO then."

* * *

><p>1st Floor, Gallery Room, Keep, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Something metallic was heard from behind the group. If any of them chose to turn around, they would see that the door was sealed off with a metallic gate.<p>

"I have a feeling that our presence is not a welcoming one anymore." Yu commented out loud sarcastically.

"So what do we do now?" Dan asked while the zealots were still closing in on him and the others. "Run or stand your ground?"

"This is what we'll do to these punks!" Yu shouted when he fired his G3A3 in full auto from the hip. From left to right, the Japanese Spriggan fired the German-made battle rifle to stun the scythe-armed zealots.

"You two!" Leon shouted at Kevin and Jill while he pointed to the door to his right. "Look for higher ground and cover us with sniper fire! We're about to get boxed in here!"

"Okay!" Jill nodded while she ported her SL8-4.

Jean moved to the door nearby and kicked it open in case any enemy was nearby. The French Spriggan aimed his SPAS-12 before he gestured to the snipers to move in at once.

"Move out!" Kevin ran through the door alongside Jill.

"Let's get rid of them!" Leon fired the M3 at the zealots after they were momentarily stunned by 7.62 NATO gunfire. Most of them were gunned down after being hit by several buckshot rounds.

Hiryu, Hien and Dan fired their respective assault carbines to finish off the downed zealots. Eriko fired her sidearm to help finish the job.

* * *

><p>MOM's Office, The Center<p>

* * *

><p>MOM and Billy were busy going over data regarding the names and the bios of the agents killed in the Madrid ambush.<p>

"Do any of the Madrid-based agents have families or anything we should know?"

Billy nodded a bit. "I've got word that a couple of them do have immediate families, but they have disconnected with them after going the militaries of their respective countries prior to joining with the SRS."

"And what about Sawamura?"

"Nothing yet, MOM. He's still maintaining his routine within our Madrid base. I also need to add one more thing."

"And that is?"

"Aside from the Secret Service mole taken into custody and being interrogated by the DSO with another one scheduled to be done by the FBI, nothing's known about Wesker's role in the kidnapping of the First Daughter and the cult's use of the parasite."

MOM sighed and leaned back on her chair.

"If communications can be established with our SHADOW agents, I need to give them a new order."

"What about it?" Billy asked MOM.

MOM frowned at Billy. "That one is privy to me only, Billy. Besides, why do I think I established SHADOW alongside the SRS?"

* * *

><p>1st Floor, Gallery Room, Keep, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>With Jill and Kevin moving to the opened door to provide sniper support from above, Leon and the others with a gun finished off the downed scythe-armed zealots. When they were down for good, they began to take the opportunity to immediately reload before another wave of enemies would arrive.<p>

"It'll be a matter of time before more of them show up!" Martin shouted when he armed himself with his personal I-Cutter.

"Indeed." Fujino also agreed with Martin when she armed herself with her own I-Cutter.

After the bodies of the zealots began to dissolve, the group can see from the second floor that the brown wall corners had rotated once. They revealed armed zealots armed with crossbows that had fire-tipped crossbow bolts.

"Dammit. Crossbows with burning crossbow bolts." Hien groaned when he was done reloading his Indonesian-made assault carbine.

"Stay low and move to the door at the right side." Leon instructed the masked Philippine Spriggan agent when he crouched down. The blonde DSO agent pointed to the door on the right while he moved to one of the pillars for cover.

"I'll stay here too. Your shotgun ain't enough for long-range shooting." Hiryu told Leon as he took cover behind another pillar.

* * *

><p>2nd Floor, Gallery Room, Keep, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Jill and Kevin arrived at the second floor, stopping by to pick up a Yellow Herb before entering the door to get to the said floor.<p>

"Time to get prone." Kevin told Jill before he started to get prone on the floor. "Man, I just hate it since I don't have a bipod to steady the rifle except for the sling and my arms." He shouldered the SSG P IV and peered through the Leupold riflescope.

"I know what you mean, Kevin." Jill got prone next to Kevin and shouldered the SL8-4. "I'll take the left. You can take the right." The ex-STARS operative started to peer through her sniper rifle's Leupold riflescope to search for any crossbow-armed zealots.

"Understood."

The two immediately started to scope the floor for armed zealots.

"I found one beneath an overhead lamp." Kevin reported his findings to Jill, ready to take the shot.

"Same here. Also beneath an overhead lamp." Jill also reported the same findings.

"Wanna shoot it?"

"No. Let's conserve it as a surprise attack."

"Okay."

"GO!"

The two fired their sniper rifles in unison, taking out the first two crossbow-armed zealots after they emerged from the wall corners near the stairs via headshots. After they were killed, the wall corners started to rotate again.

"FIRE!" Kevin shouted after he worked the bolt of his SSG P IV to remove the used 7.62 NATO subsonic cartridge to shoot the red lamp. Jill did the same thing after she fired the SL8-4 once since it is a semi-automatic sniper rifle. The burning oil from the red lamp came out after they were shot by bullet, burning the unfortunate zealot when they came out of the wall corner passage, being burned alive. Thanks to the timing of the rifle shots, the enemy didn't know what hit them.

"Nice." Kevin grinned when he pulled the bolt to extract the used cartridge.

"Indeed. Nice to see your shooting skills at work." Jill chuckled after she fired her weapon for the second time. "For now, keep an eye out for more of those crossbow-armed guys."

"Got it." Kevin went through his scope to search for more crossbow-armed zealots.

The door nearby opened up to reveal most of the group after they arrived from the first floor.

"Thanks for covering our rear, guys." Jean thanked the snipers, being the first to arrive on the floor.

"Allow me to buy some time." Kevin replied to Jean. "And get everyone to stay low."

"Understood." Jean instructed the others to stay down until Jill and Kevin can clear the floor permanently of hostiles.

"Another one!" Jill shouted before she fired the SL8-4, scoring a headshot.

"Same one here!" Kevin shouted as he fired the SSG P IV for another headshot. The suppressed barrel gave him a bit more of an advantage than Jill because it would prevent the enemy from trying to find his location.

"The numbers are getting bad for them." Dan said when he shouldered and fired his SIG SG 552 assault carbine at the zealots while he peeked at the first floor to see Leon and Hiryu as they fired several shots from their own firearms to thin out the enemies on the second floor.

Without saying anything, Tea threw down a couple of cloth pieces with pentagrams painted on them. In an instant, they turned into winged lions as they roared and ran throughout the floor, scaring the hell out of the zealots while they aimed for a shot.

For now, two more were left. And only one of them was armed with a crossbow.

"Okay Jill! There's two more!"

"Got it!"

Jill was the first to fire a shot from her sniper rifle, shooting the unarmed zealot at the chest. This stunned him as he staggered back towards the wall. This was followed by multiple gunshot wounds caused by Hiryu's G36C. Due to this, the zealot was gunned down permanently.

The crossbow-armed zealot was given a swift death when Kevin took aim and fired his sniper rifle at his head. All of the crossbow-armed zealots and their unarmed companions killed had their bodies dissolved, due to the implanted parasites.

"Okay! Get up on the second floor!" Yu shouted after he saw that all of the zealots on the second floor were wiped out.

As Leon and Hiryu began to ascend the second floor via the same door most of the group used to avoid going to the exposed stairs, everyone in the gallery could hear something being moved.

This was eventually followed by an explosion or two.

"What the heck was that?!" Leon shouted after he managed to rendezvous with the rest of the group.

"We don't know!" Chun-Li told Leon when he showed up.

Sho did not say except to dash around the floor with his personal ninjato at the ready. When he found the offending passage, the ninja jumped in and began to stab and slash at the zealots, one of them with a Russian-made RPG-7.

* * *

><p>Interrogation Room, DSO Headquarters, somewhere in Virginia, United States of America<p>

* * *

><p>"Alright. Let's go and take this from the top all over again."<p>

Bruce got back inside the interrogation room in order to start questioning the scientist still in DSO custody.

"Is there anything that you can think of that is significant in the past few days after you were employed by the CIHL?"

The scientist stayed silent, looking at his cuffs.

"Please. Help me out here. If you don't talk, then the FBI's going to make you talk aside from putting possible charges for being associated with a group that does bioterrorism."

The detainee was a bit shocked about the possibility that the FBI could charge him for being associated with the CIHL, especially since with their covert monster creation program.

"Look, the only thing I know is that something big happened after I was recruited for a few weeks..."

Bruce nodded, pleased at the progress. "Go ahead. And take your time."

* * *

><p>2nd Floor, Gallery Room, Keep, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>After Sho took caught of the annoying RPG team, the ninja passed by to pick up a box of 9mm bullet, a Spinel and a red switch on the wall. The ninja quickly pressed it before he returned back to his colleagues, tossing the Spinel to Tea.<p>

"Look! Something's rising from the ground!" Cammy shouted, pointing to a 4x4 platform with a blue treasure chest in the middle.

"Now the thing is how do we access it?" Hiryu murmured.

"We need to do a quick search." Eriko suggested. "There must be another switch that can create a bridge so that we can access the blue chest and take whatever is inside."

"I shall do that." Sho bowed before he moved out to search for anything. He saw a door that was not explored yet. He kicked it open and saw a vase was at the end of the room.

* * *

><p>Adam Benford's Office, DSO Headquarters, somewhere in Virginia, United States of America<p>

* * *

><p>Adam was on the phone, keeping in touch with Hunnigan after he received an intercom message that the FOS-based agent was trying to contact him.<p>

**"So how did the interrogation go?"**

**"I think there's some progress, sir."**

**"How so?"**

**"I received some intel from the prisoner through agent McGivern that the CIHL had conducted its own bioweapons program to supposedly take out the Center in an attempt by its leader, Octavia Paine."**

Adam sighed hard. He knew that he heard the name of the CIHL's leader from somewhere.

**"I remember that woman. Word I got from before is that the NSA wanted to work with her and the CIHL in anti-paranormal missions. I, of course, found her very suspicious since I heard from very reliable sources that she has an ulterior motive for wanting to work with the DSO."  
><strong>

**"And that was a good move, sir."**

**"Indeed."** The DSO leader massaged his temples. **"Anything else Bruce got?"**

**"Nothing so much, except that the attempt on the Center foiled that Octavia went into seclusion for a while and quietly began a recruitment drive to bolster the CIHL's manpower after one of its agents turned on her."**

**"Well at least we know what we're up against."** Adam then asked Hunnigan. **"Can we get through our agents?"**

Hunnigan politely replied. **"I'm sorry. But we're still trying everything we got."**

**"All right. Just keep me posted."**

**"Yes, sir."**

* * *

><p>Narrow Room, 2nd Floor, Gallery Room, Keep, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Sho noted the presence of a vase at the end of the narrow room. He slowly walked towards it, wary of any traps. Once he got there, he executed a diagonal slash with Lightning Light and destroyed the vase.<p>

"So, what's this?" The Ninja Commando saw another red button hidden at the bottom of where the vase was formerly. "A wise place to hide such a button, but not very wise."

Sho clenched his right hand into a fist and slammed it to the button before he made a quick escape to leave the room before he would be ambushed on the way out.

* * *

><p>2nd Floor, Gallery Room, Keep, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"Looks like we got our problems solved." Diana said when she saw a bridge appearing out from the floor to extend towards the 4x4 platform.<p>

"But we got new ones to solve." Yu pointed to the four unarmed zealots guarding the blue chest.

"We can take care of this." Kevin told the Japanese Spriggan confidently. "Besides, Jill and I got some more ammo left in our sniper rifles."

"Okay, Kevin. Let's go." Jill fired a shot again from her SL8-4, hitting two of the four unarmed zealots by luck since they were lined up that their heads were aligned.

"Leave the others to me." Kevin aligned the sights of the SSG P IV's riflescope at the other two unarmed zealots. Once he acquired this, the brown-haired DSO agent fired a suppressed shot from his sniper rifle to kill them.

"More incoming!" Leon shouted and he pointed to the incoming zealots with scythes. In addition, they were also wearing skull masks.

"We need to get in close and personal. We don't have time to wait for another shot from either Jill and Kevin." Hien suggested.

True to the masked Spriggan's words, Jill and Kevin were beginning to reload their sniper rifles.

"He's correct." Cammy agreed to Hien's words. "Chun-Li and I can move in alongside Sho and Tea. Besides, we can take care of the matter in a few minutes."

Leon nodded. "All right. Most of us would probably need the time to reload."

* * *

><p>Outside Interrogation Room, DSO Headquarters, somewhere in Virginia, United States of America<p>

* * *

><p>Bruce was called outside to speak to both Adam and Hunnigan regarding the interrogation and what information he acquired from the CIHL scientist.<p>

"Sir..." Bruce spoke to Adam first. "I don't understand why you're here. You could have just waited in the office."

"Concern duly noted, agent McGivern." It was clear that Adam brushed off any of Bruce's concerns. "But we need to resolve the matter regarding the CIHL since I'm getting more new pressure from the president and the National Security Council for any new details regarding the abduction."

Bruce sighed when he replied to Adam. "Nothing much, sir. The guy we got in the interrogation room's pretty much a green guy. He was just recruited a few weeks ago before we raided his working place."

Adam was not pleased with the information Bruce told him about.

"But the only thing he knows is that Octavia Paine, head of the CIHL, was busy working on a personal matter with another attempt on a bioweapons program."

Adam nodded after hearing what Bruce said. "Well that appears to be promising at least."

"Yeah." Bruce scratched the back of his head. "But the thing is we don't know why CIHL is pursuing its own bioweapons program."

"The only thing we know is that CIHL tried it once to take down the Center." Hunnigan was examining her electronic tablet to check her data. "Word out there is that she used to be a Center agent until she was forced to leave due to a bad evaluation."

Bruce couldn't help, but chuckle at the news. "Seriously?"

Hunnigan nodded, being serious. "Yep. Seriously."

"Man. That sounds like someone with a bad grudge."

"In the meantime," Adam spoke up again. "I want you to put the man in a cell and have 24/7 surveillance in his cell and see if there's anything else."

"Uh, sir." Bruce began to ask his superior. "Isn't a bit too much?"

"No." Adam shook his head. "And it's better if he's able to cough up additional info before the FBI decides that they want in and interrogate the guy, in addition to putting up charges against him. Even though that he's just a new recruit."

"Right, sir."

* * *

><p>2nd Floor, Gallery Room, Keep, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Cammy, Chun-Li, Sho and Tea moved out to take down the scythe-armed zealots. Although they had deadly weapons with them, they had decided that they needed to take the pressure of the others since they had to reload their weapons and it wasn't a good move if one reloads a weapon when someone is about to attack you in the process.<p>

"Let's circle around. If we move fast, we can attack them by surprise from their backs." Cammy suggested as the four-man group began to circle around the floor in order to intercept the zealots from their backs.

"A good idea." Sho agreed with Cammy's assessment on taking the fight to the enemy.

"Okay, we should be almost close towards their rear." Chun-Li commented when he noticed the skull mask-wearing zealots were moving a bit slow while gripping the handles of their scythes.

The scythe-armed zealots were moving a bit slow when the team was able to get in close towards their backs.

"Okay!" Sho shouted as he got in close first. "Now hit them hard!"

The ninja struck one of the skull mask-wearing zealots, the blade of Lightning Light placed at his neck. Sho's handling of the ninjato allowed him to critically injure the zealot.

"I got him!" Sho yelled to Chun-Li when the zealot was forced to go down on his knees, placing his hands on his neck.

"KIYAHH!" Chun-Li was the next to step into the fight. She executed a kick onto the downed zealot's back to send him down to the ground.

"Okay, now they seem to be pissed off at us." Cammy remarked when the Delta Red operative saw the other three masked zealots hurl their scythes at them as projectiles.

"DOWN!" Sho shouted loud before he used Lightning Light to cut the hurled scythes down to several pieces. The ninja was able to do this successfully to the point that even the scythe's blade was cut down to several harmless little pieces.

"My turn now." Tea said calmly before the British Spriggan hurled her pentagram-painted cloths at the zealots, which turned into winged lions. Their transformation startled the zealots once more.

"I'm going in!" Cammy moved in up close towards one of the confused zealots.

"Axle Spin Knuckle!" The blonde ponytailed woman shouted when she got close to one of the unarmed zealots. The attack started with her left elbow, which connected to the zealot's chest since she can't risk an attack on the skull mask.

_Good! _Cammy moved in even closer to use her clenched left fist to strike the masked zealot at his chest again.

Sho moved in and stabbed the zealot Cammy attacked right on the chest. The first zealot was eventually killed when his body started to dissolve.

"Hazanshu!" Chun-Li yelled when she executed a somersault with one of her legs outstretched. The Interpol detective allowed her outstretched leg to slam into the back of the second unarmed zealot. This allowed the unarmed zealot to be pinned on the ground by her boot.

Cammy moved to the third zealot when she performed a Cannon Strike, which allowed her to kick him high up to the ceiling.

"KIKOKEN!" Chun-Li placed her open palms together before she shouted. A projectile came out of her palms, which was thanks to a strong amount of ki energy since it was used to make sure that the two zealots collide with each other after the third zealot fell down from the ceiling. The attack happened before he was about to make contact with the ground.

Sho used Lighting Light to stab the downed zealot Chun-Li previously attacked. The ninja watched him squirm from the attack before his body started to dissolve.

"Two down, two to go." Cammy murmured when she dashed towards one of the last two zealots.

"SPIN DRIVE SMASHER!" She moved in to execute on of her combo moves, which she started with a Spiral Arrow. This was followed by a Cannon Spike, which ended the combo. Fortunately for Cammy, this move made the third zealot fall over the balcony until his body hit the ground floor. The impact killed him, which resulted in his body slowly dissolving.

Chun-Li jumped into the air, feet first, before she started to do a split.

"SPINNING BIRD KICK!" Chun-Li yelled before she started the attack, which was a bit since this was the only attack move that she does in English.

The fourth zealot didn't have any time to react when he got hit by the woman's airborne feet. They moved in a clockwise direction every time Chun-Li moved in by flying closer and closer to her target.

By the time the Spinning Bird Kick was completed, the zealot was sent flying to the ground.

"Good." Cammy murmured as she moved in, using her boot-clad feet to step on the zealot's mask-clad head. The British woman watched the zealot stand up.

"Take this!" The Delta Red operative performed a scissor kick. Only this time, she did this to hurl him over the balcony instead of the usual attack, which was to slam him onto the ground. The fall killed him for good, removing the last attempt of resistance by the zealots to secure the blue chest.

"Now we're done." Tea said, who originally hanged back and allowed Chun-Li, Cammy and Sho to fight off the skull mask-wearing zealots.

The four began to walk closer to the blue chest. They walked slowly on the bridge so that they wouldn't fall over and be gravely injured from the fall or worse, die.

"What's inside the blue chest there?" Cammy said as she was near the chest.

"I am pretty sure it's something we need so that we can continue with our journey." Tea replied as she slowly walked on the bridge.

"The only question is whether the chest is rigged with a trap or not." Chun-Li suggested, watching the two British nationals make their move towards the chest.

"I guess it's up to them to find out." Sho stood by with the Interpol detective as the British Spriggan used her psychic magic to open the chest, watching her open it without any trouble at all.

"Let's go and see what's inside." Cammy said after she knelt down next to the open chest. She leaned forward and peeked inside the chest to see its interior.

"Hello." murmured the woman. "Let's see what we've got here."

She slowly peeked inside after making sure that the chest was not rigged to explode or set off a similar trap. Inside the chest was an ornament piece that was used when attached onto something.

"I found it!" Cammy reached inside the chest and picked up the Goat Ornament Piece after she shouted to her colleagues.

"Nice!" Leon gave a thumbs up to Cammy.

The metallic gates were heard being opened, which indicated that the fight was over.

"Now what do we do?" Fujino asked after Cammy secured the ornament piece.

"Well we can go back to see the merchant and see off whatever valuables we got." Dan suggested.

Some of the others eyed Dan and wondered if it was such a good idea.

"I think it's a good idea."

Hiryu sighed and slapped his gloved hand on his balaclava-clad face.

"Hey. If that can get us some more ammo and more things that can help us later, then why not?" Kevin answered, shrugging his shoulders.

After the group gathered together, they retraced their footsteps back to the temple where they met up with the Merchant again.

* * *

><p>Temple, Keep, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"Good to see you again, strangahs!"<p>

The Merchant greeted the group once they were able to backtrack to the temple.

"Yeah. Nice to see you." Hien muttered, who wasn't obviously thrilled to backtrack. He decided to sit down on the floor and get some rest.

"We have some ideas that may be of interest to you." Tea greeted the Merchant before she showed him the Spinel and the Velvet Blue the group had obtained recently.

"AAHHH... Quite the items you've brought to me as usual." The Merchant nodded when he took hold of the items. "I'll buy these at the usual price."

"Fair enough." Tea nodded after she handed in the items before the Merchant gave her the pesetas for a total of 4,500.

"I need to sit down right now." Kevin sat down and reloaded his SSG P IV. "You guys okay for a few minutes? My feet are killing me."

The others agreed with Kevin's question without any serious opposition as most of them either sat down or leaned on the nearby wall to relax.

"Where are you going?" Yu questioned Martin when he saw him already in front of a wall corner.

"I think I need to take a leak." The Canadian teenager told Yu.

Yu raised an eyebrow before he said the only word.

"What?"

"He's not the only one." Leon told Yu. "I feel the need for one too. Besides, when's the last time most of us took a leak?"

It would be a while before everyone in the group decided to take a leak and leave with the Goat Ornament Piece. Where they did it is something they would not openly discuss to anyone. Not even to anyone within the group itself.

* * *

><p>MOM's Office, The Center<p>

* * *

><p>MOM was certainly getting worked up.<p>

Not only was she not able to make contact with her agents in Spain, but the deaths of five Madrid-based SRS agents in an ambush made her wonder if intel was leaked from the ranks of the SID.

She later called in Billy and requested him to check on the SID to see if anything unusual can be reported.

"Understood, MOM. I'll go and check them at once."

The black-haired woman hoped that no more deaths would be reported at her watch. She got a Tylenol tablet from a small box of Tylenols in one of her drawers and took it before she drank some water from her personal water bottle.

* * *

><p>Hallway, Mansion, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>After retracing their steps once more, the group entered a hallway that looked quite similar to the hallways being used in old, eerie mansions.<p>

"If I see anything more like this, I'll be acquiring a phobia of creepy, dark hallways." Jill sighed as she was the last to enter the deserted hallway.

"Like it or not, we'll be seeing the likes of these in the near future." Leon tried to calm the nerves of his colleague.

"There's a door up ahead." Diana pointed to the end of the hallway.

"Or rather, a doorless entry." Hien suggested.

"Let's move guys." Kevin said when he aimed his Glock 21 Mariner down the hallway. "I'll be the first."

"Don't forget about me, Kevin." Leon told Kevin when he held his M3 properly after he patted the brown-haired man's right shoulder.

They later got into a small room, which consisted of two doors and a small table with a vase. Hiryu used his gloved left hand to execute a backfist to break it.

"Here." Dan got the box of 9mm bullets and handed it to Hiryu. "You'll need it."

"Thanks." Hiryu pocketed the box in his vest pocket.

"Now which door?" Fujino asked, confused to figure out which door to open first.

Martin signaled Java to bust down the non-bluish door. Although the caveman had enough strength to break it, he had a little problem.

No matter how hard he punched or kicked it, the door wasn't going to budge.

"And that leaves door number 2." Cammy approached the bluish door and kicked it open.

"Careful." Leon was the first to enter through the door, which led to a small hallway with another door at the end. He saw something shining...

Only to be blocked by a flock of crows that flew inside.

Tea didn't say anything, except to use her psychic powers to take the Spinel from the ceiling and place it in her coat pocket.

The crows eventually left, which allowed Leon to reach the door at the other end without any problem.

"You go first." Jill told Leon, being behind him next to a pistol-armed Kevin.

"Right." The M3-wielding Leon nodded before he used a strong kick to get the door open.

This was followed with Leon aiming the shotgun at what appears to be a deserted and dilapidated balcony.

Chapter 16 END

* * *

><p>PS - Greetings to everyone in 2013. Been busy with a surgery op on my head to remove a harmless brain tumor mostly, which is the reason why I haven't updated a new chapter. I just hope that I can put this and other related incidents behind me and lead a normal life. Right now, I just want to put this behind me and get back to a normal life. Not to mention that I've been told of additional treatment via applied radiation to make sure I'm really, really going to be okay.<p>

In the meantime, I've been playing Resident Evil 6 in my older brother's place while I'm recovering from surgery. Quite awesome in terms of the story used to close the storylines of Leon, Sherry and Chris. Although Piers was earlier introduced in a manga called Biohazard: Marhawa Desire. But still... I heard that it's going to be four volumes long. If it's not the case, then sue me. (Although I don't want to be sued in court)

I'm also ordering a limited edition BSAA softshell jacket made by CAPCOM Japan. A pre-order's been done, so I can't wait to see it. I just hope that there's BSAA softshell pants. But I doubt CAPCOM would make one. But you never know. Still, I hope CAPCOM considers doing BSAA softshell pants.

This'll be updated first before my Gundam fic is next. And that's a definite.

Oh yeah, Zealots and zealots are going to be used interchangeably starting from this chapter. I'm kinda lazy to change anything.

* * *

><p>Pesetas in Total = 170,600<p> 


	17. Castle Exploration

Resident Evil/Biohazard: Hostage Rescue

Rating: T

NOTE:

All characters of Resident Evil/Captain Commando/Street Fighter are under the copyright of Capcom. All characters of Martin Mystery are under the copyright of Marathon. All characters of Kara no Kyokai are under the copyright of TYPE-MOON. All characters of Spriggan are under the copyright of Hiroshi Takashige and Ryoji Minagawa. All characters of Jiraishin are under the copyright of Tsutomu Takahashi. The appearance of Kenneth "Kenny" Feng is under noctorro's jurisdiction. All others are under my jurisdiction.

Summary:

Leon and his group moved deeper and deeper into the castle after nearly escaping with their lives, fighting against the Los Illuminados' Zealots. Can they keep up, survive being ambushed and find Ashley safely before she's captured by the cult? Stay tune to this chapter to find out.

Chapter 17: Castle Exploration

* * *

><p>Balcony, Mansion, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Leon took the chance to search the dilapidated balcony while he had his Benelli M3 shouldered.<p>

_Good thing a shell's in the shotgun._

"How did it go, partner?" Kevin moved right behind Leon, already armed with his Glock 21 Mariner.

"Balcony looks okay." Leon replied while he pointed to the ruined railing. "But it seems that parts of this area looks old that it may give way eventually."

"So what do you suggest?" Cammy asked Leon after she and the others heard him out.

"We still move." Leon told the Delta Red operator. "Except you need to watch your steps carefully."

The group moved up and turned right, which led to a short corridor to another part of the balcony. This part of the balcony had a water fountain that was still working.

"Over there." Martin pointed to the crows perched on the fountain.

"Crows." Diana eyed the fountain carefully when her stepbrother pointed out the birds.

"Let's check this area carefully and slowly." Jill suggested.

"Agreed." Kevin nodded when he saw the metal door and an open entryway above. The brown-haired DSO agent checked the metal door and noted that it was locked. He caught sight of a window with bars on it.

"Anything?" Chun-Li asked Kevin.

Kevin shook her head. "It's locked. But I saw a chest in there. Probably locked."

"From the inside, I bet." Chun-Li surmised. "We can give someone a boost."

"Fujino!" Kevin called for the Japanese SHADOW agent.

"Yes?" Fujino came to see Kevin after her name was called out.

"Can you do me a favor and see if you can get inside?" Kevin asked Fujino, pointing to the locked door.

"Hai." Fujino nodded.

Kevin positioned himself below the opening below, placing his hands on the bars so that Fujino can walk on his back and jump. She grabbed the edges of the opening above and got inside.

"Well..." Chun-Li asked the purple-haired girl.

"It's open." Fujino unlocked the door and opened the small chests, getting a Red Herb and an Elegant Perfume Bottle.

"I'll get a look at the big chest." Kevin approached the big chest and slowly opened it to make sure it was not rigged to explode. Once he was sure that it was safe, Kevin opened it and got a Colt Single Action Army revolver. He checked the chamber and saw that it was already loaded.

"I shall give this to Tea-san." Fujino excused herself and left the room to hand the Perfume Bottle to Tea. Chun-Li and Kevin left the room a few seconds later.

Tea examined the fountain and picked up a couple of Velvet Blues and a Spinel left in the fountain water. She turned around and saw that Fujino was handing her the Elegant Perfume Bottle. She accepted it.

"Wonder who left them there?" Jean was confused to see why those jewels were left in the fountain.

"Beats me." Yu shrugged. "I'm just glad that we can get more money for our buck later with the merchant guy."

Fujino and Java examined the path leaving the fountain area, except that numerous barrels were in place to block the path to anyone trying to walk around the balcony. Sho maintained vigilance by standing on top of the fountain to get a good view of the balcony.

"Java punch barrels." The caveman told Fujino, ready to destroy the wooden barrels blocking his way.

"Please go ahead, Java-san." Fujino stepped back to allow Java to do his work.

"Java know, Fujino." Java nodded before he clenched his right hand into a fist. He pulled his arm back before he punched the barrels with his fist, destroying a few of them. This was followed by a strong kick, which ensured that no other wooden barrel was left standing.

"Looks like we got some money." Hiryu knelt down to examine the contents of the barrels, earning 2500 pesetas. "Two more barrels, big guy."

Java made a short run to kick one of the wooden barrels after Fujino destroyed some of the others with her bending ability, which revealed nothing. The other barrel was destroyed with another kick.

"We got something." Dan whistled when he picked up an Incendiary Grenade and 1000 pesetas. "I'll go and keep the grenade with me."

"There's a door up ahead." Hien murmured. "Wonder where that leads us?"

"Hopefully not into another trap." Leon said as he approached the double wooden doors. He laid a hand on the door handle to see if it was locked.

"Guess it's not locked." Jill commented after she saw one of the wooden doors open slightly.

"How shall we proceed?" Eriko asked while she checked her Sig Sauer P228 via brass check to see if she still has enough ammunition for the pistol.

Leon slowly opened the door, aiming the M3's barrel inside.

"Kevin. With me."

Kevin patted Leon's right shoulder after he arrived at the double doors in time to see him open the door. He gestured to the others to follow him after he went in with Leon.

* * *

><p>Unknown Control Room<p>

* * *

><p>Wesker had been contacted by Krauser despite the fact that he was busy trying to plan ahead in case the ex-Umbrella employee needed to be in the public.<p>

**"Can this wait or not, Krauser?" **Wesker asked Krauser while he reclined in his seat.

**"I'm afraid not, Wesker. It's a big situation." **Krauser replied, who sounded a bit worried.

This raised Wesker's eyebrow. **"Do tell on this... situation, Krauser."**

**"Everyone's getting a bit restless. I think they want some action instead of just waiting for the big boys to come to us."**

Wesker thought about Krauser's comments.

_I see. I think we may need to move eventually._

**"So you got a plan there?"** Krauser asked Wesker again after the former didn't hear an answer for a few minutes.**  
><strong>

**"For now, get them to intercept them if you wish." **Wesker said before he added, **"Same thing with the boy too."**

**"Understood." **Krauser replied before he asked, **"But what about Ada?"**

**"Let her concentrate on her own objectives."**

**"All right. I gotcha."**

* * *

><p>Delta Red Team Headquarters, Secret Intelligence Service Headquarters, Vauxhall Cross, London, United Kingdom<p>

* * *

><p>Deep underground SIS Headquarters in Vauxhall Cross was the main headquarters of Delta Red, the SIS' anti-terrorist team mandated to conduct mainly anti-terrorist duties. Delta Red has also been known to cooperate with SIS agents or other British police forces abroad (a domestic operation would require consent from SIS) to ensure the safe return of British nationals, whether they are kidnapped, trapped in another country due to a couprevolution or if they are needed to be extradited to Britain on criminal/terrorist offenses.

All Delta Red operators off duty and not deployed in any operation wore OD BDUs and boots with an inverted triangle on the right side of their chests to indicate Delta Red membership. A red beret with an inverted yellow triangle was the required headgear, worn over the right side of their head.

"Bollocks! I refuse to believe that we already lost contact with Cammy in Spain!"

However, today was not a good day for anyone in Delta Red HQ because First Lieutenant Lita Luwanda, one of the first members of Delta Red and an unarmed combat expert, was seen yelling in front of the desk of her superior, Keith Wolfman.

"Do I need to repeat myself, Lieutenant?" Colonel Wolfman sighed in frustration that his subordinate couldn't accept his explanation. He rubbed his scar when he explained. "GCHQ and the DIS have confirmed that there is a strong radio jamming signal coming from Spain."

"What?" Lita was confused at the news. "I thought that Cammy was investigating leads on some backwater cult in the countryside."

"I'm afraid that the Colonel is right."

Lita turned around to see her short colleague, Warrant Officer Class One George Ginzu, walked in close beside her.

"I think Mr. Ginzu can explain things around here." Wolfman gestured to allow George to explain himself.

"Of course, sir." George nodded before he showed a satellite image of Spain. "This area in red in the photo showing the southwestern area of Spain has been confirmed to have the strong jamming defenses. And that's the same area where Cammy is."

Wolfman nodded while he listened to George's explanation.

"GCHQ confirms that someone is responsible for establishing the anti-jamming area."

"Do we know who did it?" Lita asked George.

George replied. "According to intelligence supplied by the Division of Security Operations," The Delta Red operative showed Lita and Wolfman another satellite photo of an area of the countryside with the broken wooden bridge. "they have credible information to suggest that an anti-paranormal organization has helped the cult set up the jamming area."

"And does this group have a name, Warrant Officer Ginzu?" Wolfman asked George after the latter showed the appropriate satellite photos.

"Word is that the Creature Intelligence Hybrid Laboratory or the CIHL is the culprit for the jamming. Most likely that it was planned months before the First Daughter was kidnapped."

Second Lieutenant Matthew McCoy made himself known while George was still explaining the situation in Spain. "Greetings, Colonel. Everyone."

"Hey there." Lita greeted Matthew before she faced George. "Continue with the explanation, George."

"Okay." George replied to Lita. "As I've said earlier, the CIHL is responsible for the mess Lieutenant White is in right now."

Wolfman asked George another question. "Do we know who's currently leading the CIHL?"

"An Octavia Paine is leading the CIHL. But she rarely shows herself in the public, which kinda makes things hard for us to get a good photo of her."

"Unless someone else has a good photo of her, then I guess we'll be going nowhere." Matthew chimed in.

"I'll ask GCHQ and other friendly agencies if they got a photo of her." George suggested to Wolfman.

"All right." Wolfman nodded. "Report in in case you find anything significant."

"Understood, sir." George saluted before he left.

* * *

><p>Hedge Maze, Mansion, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>When the group went through the double doors, the hedge maze literally blew their minds away in terms of the layout and appearance.<p>

"Really? A hedge maze?" Hien grumbled after he saw the hedge maze for himself.

"This'll be hard to search." Martin sighed and scratched his head, wondering how they can cover the entire maze.

"I can provide sniper support with Kevin." Jill crouched and flipped down the bipod on her Heckler & Koch SL8-4.

"Agreed with the lady." Kevin shared Jill's sentiment when he crouched and flipped down the bipod of his Steyr SSG P IV.

"Okay. The two of you provide sniper support for the rest of us." Leon gave the two instructions as Kevin and Jill got prone and shouldered their sniper rifles. "I'll need someone to stay with you guys so that no one does a sneak attack.

"I'll stay with them." Yu volunteered himself. "Besides, 7.62 NATO ammo should be good to shoot with from this distance."

"Anyone else?" Leon waited for another person to volunteer him or herself.

"I'll stay behind too." Hien volunteered himself also.

Leon nodded before he said, "I'll lead the rest to secure the hedge maze and see if we can find a way around it."

"Let's do it." Jean said before he pumped his Franchi SPAS-12 to load a buckshot round into the shotgun.

Leon led the group in going down the path that led to the hedge maze. But before he could walk the first step down, Leon noted that he was receiving a transmission.

"It better not be him..." The blonde DSO agent grumbled as he got out the radio and examine the vid screen who was contacting him and Kevin.

_Oh crap! It's Salazar..._

* * *

><p>Chairman's Office, ARCAM Japan Headquarters, Ichigaya, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan<p>

* * *

><p>Chairman Yamamoto had received word from its intelligence division that Yu, Jean and the other Spriggans still can't make contact with ARCAM's Spanish branch ever since the jamming area was established.<p>

"Still nothing." Yamamoto murmured when he tossed the printout, which contained a detailed report from intelligence. "Still nothing from them."

"Excuse me, Chairman."

The bald man turned around, having stood behind his chair to look at the streets of Shinjuku.

"Yes, what is it?"

Yamamoto saw that Rie Yamabishi, known college prodigy and ARCAM linguistics expert, had got inside his office after she knocked on the door three times.

"I need to ask you something if Yu is alright?" The glasses-wearing woman asked the chairman of ARCAM's Japanese branch.

"I don't think so." Yamamoto sighed. "Neither the main branch in New York or the Spanish branch in Madrid has been able to make contact with them."

"Do you think he and the others will be alright?"

Yamamoto grabbed a cigarette from a Marlboro pack in his jacket pocket.

"To be honest Rie-san." Yamamoto sighed before he lit up one end of the cigarette. "I wish I really knew."

* * *

><p>Hedge Maze, Mansion, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Leon and Kevin picked up their radios and noted that Salazar was making contact with him.<p>

_Hold it. _

Leon gestured to his comrades to hold up while he used his radio. Kevin placed the buttstock of his SSG P IV down while he answered his radio.

**"What do you want, shorty?" **Kevin glared at Salazar on the vid screen.

Salazar sighed and shook his head. **"You know that it's not polite to be rude to your host."**

Leon opted to roll his eyes at Salazar's comment in disbelief. **"What the hell do you want, Salazar?"**

The family head chuckled before he replied, **"I'm just checking to see if you people are still alive."**

**"Then I guess you're disappointed that we're alive huh, shorty?"** Kevin sarcastically answered after he heard Salazar's reason for contacting him and Leon.**  
><strong>

Salazar did not bother to answer Kevin's , he asked them, **"So I assume that you two and your friends have seen my garden. Do you like it?"**

**"I doubt it."** Leon replied. **"I see you've managed to work in a little of your twisted taste here too."**

Salazar chuckled even more when he said. **"Sagacious as I am, even I get lost here sometimes. Even if it takes your whole life, you'll never get out. Do you know that no one dies without a cause? You will satisfy the stomachs of my cute pets. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to tie up a few loose ends. Like chasing down a couple of rats."**

**"Hey you! What are you talking...?!" **Kevin shouted at Salazar before the brown-haired DSO agent saw Salazar give an evil laugh and end the radio transmission from his side.

"Dammit..." Hiryu hissed after he heard Salazar end the transmission.

"What do we do now?" Eriko asked Leon after he heard Salazar end the connection.

Leon was silent for a few minutes to ponder over what he heard from Salazar before he replied, "Kevin and Jill will stay behind to give us sniper support with Yu and Hien to protect their rears. The rest of you, we'll divide ourselves into a couple of groups in order to search the hedge maze."

"What does Salazar mean that a couple of rats?" Chun-Li asked Leon for clarification as Leon led the group towards the stairs down to the maze.

"I don't know." Leon admitted to the Interpol detective. "It could be Luis, but I don't know who the other one is."

"For now, let's search the maze." Tea suggested to Leon. "Let's worry about the other intruder's name later."

"Y-yeah." Leon nodded before he went down the steps.

* * *

><p>Delta Red Team Headquarters, Secret Intelligence Service Headquarters, Vauxhall Cross, London, United Kingdom<p>

* * *

><p>"I'm back, sir!"<p>

George was back in Delta Red HQ with just Wolfman behind his desk while the others were away for various reasons. He also saluted Wolfman after he arrived.

"Good timing too." Wolfman saluted George when the officer saw him in. "I trust that you've acquired good intel for me to go over?"

"Yes, sir." George handed a folder to Wolfman that had the words "TOP SECRET" stamped on it. "GCHQ and intel from within indicates that a lot of groups are involved in the operation."

Wolfman reclined back on his seat and nodded. "If I recall, the Division of Security Operations, INTERPOL and the Japanese National Police Agency are involved with it for their own reasons."

George nodded. "Indeed, Colonel. But there are two more groups that are also involved in Spain."

This raised Wolfman's curiosity when George said that a few more groups are involved.

"One group involved with the thing in Spain is another paranormal organization called the Center." George began his debriefing for Wolfman while he went over the folder's contents.

"The Center?" Wolfman stopped reading the folder and eyed George. "They're suppose to be doing anti-paranormal and anti-alien operations." The scarred man sighed. "The last I heard, they've been doing anti-Umbrella operations after Raccoon City was wiped out in 1998."

"That's right, Colonel." George replied. "They're taking the leading on anti-Umbrella ops while the BSAA's investigating the attack on Terragrigia by Il Vetro alongside the Federal Bioterrorism Commission."

"And what about this other organization involved, Warrant Officer Ginzu?" Wolfman asked his subordinate again after he heard him out.

George coughed a bit to clear his throat when he said. "Colonel, I'm getting intel that the ARCAM Corporation is involved."

"ARCAM?" Wolfman was a bit shocked that a multinational corporation involved in mostly archaeological digs and expeditions, as well as conducting talks and whatnot on archaeology, history, linguistics and other fields that relate to archaeology.

"Yes, Colonel..." George answered his superior with a bit of hesitation.

"Not those guys." _Dammit! Anything but those guys! _Wolfman felt a headache was coming on to his temples. "It was only a few years ago when a few of its elite agents called Spriggans attacked and fended off SAS teams protecting an Army research centre with that artifact those damn... scientists obtained."

"I'll assume that you were involved with that operation somehow, sir?" George warily asked Wolfman, not wanting to do something that can get him into trouble.

Wolfman closed his eyes and placed his hands on both sides of his head. "Let's just say that I had some experience confronting them."

* * *

><p>Hedge Maze, Mansion, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p><strong>"Kevin, how's our path? Is it clear?" <strong>Leon used his radio to make contact with Kevin as soon as the former made it down the steps.

Kevin peered through the Leupold riflescope on the SSG P IV before he replied to his partner. **"Looks clear for now, Leon. I suggest you make your move now before Salazar gets his lovely pets to greet us."**

**"Understood. Make sure to watch our backs or you'll be sorry." **Leon replied sarcastically.

**"Come on, you know I got one of the highest marksmanship scores in the DSO."**

Leon and Kevin ended their transmission and began their operation.

_We'll need to split up. _Leon mused as he checked the hedge maze grounds to make sure it's clear. _But I wonder how we're going to do this?_

With the exception of Hien and Yu to guard the rear of Kevin and Jill, Leon counted Martin, Diana, Java, Fujino with Chun-Li, Cammy, Eriko, Jean, Sho, Tea and Hiryu with Dan.

"All right." Leon faced the others who went with him to the hedge maze. "Here's how we're going to do this..."

* * *

><p>MOM's Office, The Center<p>

* * *

><p>MOM received two reports from Billy after she came into the office. One consisted of Billy's personal report into the ranks of the SID. The other one consisted of the report concerning Daisuke Sawamura's activities ever since SID reported him to be a mole in the Center.<p>

"More headaches..." muttered the head of the Center as she picked up the SID folder.

When the black-haired woman opened the folder, she read the detailed report from Billy regarding his personal inspection of the SID.

"Nothing concrete." MOM noted that Billy didn't find out anything out of the ordinary that would determine that the ranks of the SID were infiltrated from the outside or that a mole or a double agent.

"Coming in MOM!"

MOM had just finished browsing through the SID folder when Billy entered her office.

"Glad to see you, Billy." MOM greeted Billy before she started to read through the Sawamura folder. "I'm about to read up on the SID's report on Sawamura."

"The SID's made a new update to the report a few minutes ago."

MOM raised an eyebrow upon hearing the news, staring at Billy since she stopped temporarily reading the Sawamura folder.

"They got word that he's making another call from his mobile phone. They're already starting the intercept."

MOM nodded. "Good. Tell them to stay on him at all times."

"Right."

* * *

><p>Hedge Maze, Mansion, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"Jill, can you see anything while prone?" Kevin peered through the riflescope as he eyed Leon approach the gate leading to the hedge maze.<p>

"I doubt it. Being prone doesn't look good for my vision from up here." Jill replied when she tried to get a good view of the hedge maze.

"Okay. Let's do this while we're standing up."

The two snipers stood up and positioned the bipods of their sniper rifles on the balcony railing.

"All right. Now this is a good position." Kevin shouldered his SSG P IV when he viewed the hedge maze through the riflescope. He saw Leon kick the gate leading to the hedge maze.

**"Kevin, can you see me and the others from up there?" **Leon made contact with Kevin through their DSO-issued radios.

The brown-haired man got out his radio and spoke to Leon. **"Yeah, Leon. Me and Jill already got a good vantage."**

**"Anything out of the ordinary?"**

**"Not from what I can tell. Though I suggest that you need to stay on your ties, pal."  
><strong>

**"Okay, Kevin. Watch our backs."**

"Looks like they got in." Jill watched Leon and the others enter the hedge maze via riflescope.

"Perfect. Now for us to do our job." Kevin sighed as he eyed Leon and Jean further divide themselves up into two groups. After they went underneath the staircase to secure 700 pesetas and a Velvet Blue, Leon and Jean fired their shotgun at an incoming Colmillo from the hedge maze. The two fired their shotguns after the Colmillo tried to get in close to them.

"I think they got some company." Jill eyed the entire event through her riflescope.

"Looks like our host is getting really serious with us this time." Kevin murmured when he placed his right index finger on the SSG P IV's trigger guard.

Leon was the first to move deeper into the hedge maze, taking Cammy, Chun-Li, Eriko, Fujino, Java and Tea. Meanwhile, Jean leads another team with Martin, Diana, Sho, Tea, Hiryu and Dan.

* * *

><p>Roof, somewhere in Mansion, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Geki observed from a rooftop somewhere in the mansion Leon and Jean exploring the hedge maze, slowly dispatching Colmillos trying to attack them. The ninja saw that Leon and Jean told their comrades not to stop to pick up for anything, except for the important stuff they need to pick up that aren't from wooden barrels.<p>

"Finally, that gaijin is here." The tekko-kagi-armed ninja and ex-Street Fighter tournament participant watched the teams weave through the maze. "And Sho is here too."

Geki picked up a portable earpiece from a pocket in his shinobi shozoku. He then placed the earpiece on his left ear after he made sure that it didn't snag anything with his mask.

**"I assume that you're observing them, Geki?" **The ninja received a transmission from Krauser.

**"Indeed I am. I'm also watching these gaijin make their way through the hedge maze."** Geki replied to the ex-special forces commando. **"It'll be a matter of time before they'll be able to get through the area."****  
><strong>

Krauser stayed silent for a short time.

**"Shall I butcher them while they navigate around the maze?" **Geki asked Krauser as he broght the tekko-kagi up to his face before he brought his left arm down in a swift motion.

Geki watched Leon's team dispatch Colmillos as they moved in towards the fountain on the other side of the hedge maze. Leon was seen picking up a piece of the Blue Moonstone, which was fortunate for him since he didn't need to pick it up from the fountain water.

**"Nah, I think they'll be able to get through the maze even as we speak." **Krauser replied on Geki's earpiece as Jean's team ascended a staircase towards another fountain to secure another piece of the Blue Moonstone.

**"So shall I continue to shadow them?" **Geki asked Krauser again when he saw Leon and Jean retracing their steps back to the entrance of the hedge maze, shooting up a few Colmillos with Tea and Sho stepping in if one of them tries to take a jump and bite them. Geki looked at the side to see Kevin and Jill providing sniper support by firing at Colmillos that broke out of their dog pens.

**"For now, yeah. I think we'll need the others if we're going to effectively ambush them." **Krauser suggested to the ninja with some hesitation in his voice. He saw most of them just reloading their weapons.

**"I understand." **Geki too appeared to be hesitating to agree with Krauser's instructions since the teams were now moving back towards the hedge maze's main entrance. **"I'll shadow them from a distance when I can."**

* * *

><p>Hedge Maze, Mansion, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"You guys made it back! Not to mention free of any wolf bites!"<p>

Yu greeted the Leon, Jean and the others while Kevin and Jill reloaded their sniper rifles. Hien stood near them and guarded their backs in case of a sneak attack.

"We got these pieces." Leon said as he and Jean showed off the two halves of the Blue Moonstone.

"Anything else?" Hien asked Leon out of curiosity.

Sho stepped up next to Leon and showed him what he got from searching the hedge maze. "I did acquire some pesetas with a flashbang, a yellow herb, a Spinel, a First Aid Spray can, a Red Gem, a box of 7.62 NATO subsonic bullets and a box of shotgun shells."

Tea divided up the valuable items Sho got with her and handed the healing items to Jill, being familiar with handling them next to Leon and Kevin. The ammo was handed off to Kevin and to Leon, since the latter fired his M3 a lot more than Jean did. The British Spriggan kept a total of 1300 pesetas with her.

"Let's head to the door there." Jean advised to everyone else. "These pieces appear to fit on the door as a key."

"Let's roll." Yu told his Spriggan teammate.

Everyone began to make a run for the door near the staircase, which had the same shape as the Moonstone. Kevin took the pieces from Leon and Jean and combined them together when he inserted the two pieces onto the door. He heard a soft clicking sound when the DSO agent did this.

"Looks like the door's opening." Kevin immediately drew out his Glock 21 Mariner when the door opened upward.

"You know what to do, Kevin." Leon shouldered his M3 when he moved to Kevin's side.

Yu, Jean and everyone else with a firearm moved to the other side of the door. The others without any firearms moved to the back as usual in order to let those with a gun clear the interior first of all hostiles.

_!, 2 and..._

"GO! GO! GO!" Kevin shouted out loud, moving into the mansion interior and aiming his pistol. Leon and the others followed him inside to clear the interior. Martin and the remaining company outside got inside once Leon gestured to them to come inside.

* * *

><p>Long Gallery, Mansion, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"Clear left!"<p>

"Clear right!"

Kevin and Leon moved in to secure the long gallery, appearing to be clear of anyone inside. They were followed by Yu, Jean and anyone else who had a gun with them.

"Get the others inside." Kevin told Leon before he holstered his sidearm.

"Got it, Kevin." Leon replied. As the two men turned their backs around to face the entryway inside the long gallery, they failed to take notice of a familiar Asian woman in a red dress with the barrel of her Springfield Armory XD pistol pressed at the back of Kevin. She wore a pair of red shades with slim temple arms.

"What the..." Kevin was alarmed when he felt someone press the pistol's barrel at his back.

"Hey guys, thanks for the save..." Martin was about to compliment Leon for securing the long gallery when he remarked, "I think someone's behind the back of Kevin with a deadly weapon."

"What?!" Leon replied when he aimed the barrel of his M3 at the intruder behind Kevin.

"Stand back, Martin. It might get a bit hairy." Jill gently pushed Martin aside when she aimed her Beretta Px4 Type F at the intruder.

"Put the weapon down!" Eriko aimed her P228 at the intruder from another angle.

"My, my..." The intruder was not fazed by the amount of firearms aimed at her. "I do get quite a reception these guys just like the good old days."

"We're not going to repeat ourselves, lady!" Hiryu aimed his Heckler and Koch G36C at the Asian woman. "Put the pistol down!"

"Dammit guys..." Kevin muttered, feeling worried that he may not be able to survive the encounter. "Don't just shoot, you know? I'm in your way."

"Listen to your friend for a change." The Asian woman advised her adversaries. "I'm sure that you don't want me to ventilate your friend with a lot of bullet holes, right?"

"I'm not liking this as much as the next person." Hien trailed off before he asked while he aimed the Pindad SS-1M5 Commando at the pistol-armed woman, "But how are we going to get Kevin out of there before she can put a bullet or two at his back?"

"That is a very good question to ask." Cammy muttered to the masked Spriggan agent.

Tea calmly brought out a handkerchief with a painted image of the pentagram without catching the armed woman's attention.

Jean eyed what Tea was doing, but didn't say anything. Instead, he pumped the SPAS-12 after he had just recently reloaded with the weapon with shells to load one into the chamber to distract the woman's attention in case she noticed what Tea was doing.

"Leave this one to me." Tea murmured to Jean. When Jean nodded to her direction, the British Spriggan hurled the handkerchief towards the Asian woman.

"Just what the hell are you trying to do..." The woman aimed her pistol at Tea when the pentagram-painted handkerchief changed into a winged lion.

"WHAT THE HELL MAN!" Kevin yelled as he got out of the way when the woman fired off a shot at the winged lion, which didn't work since the fired 9mm bullet was lodged into the ceiling of the long gallery. The brown-haired DSO agent did a side roll to avoid being caught in any crossfire.

"Shit..." The Asian woman fired off a couple of shot at the winged lion that was leaped at her. Like the previous shot, it didn't do much except to add more 9mm bullets into the ceiling.

"Move in!" Cammy dashed in low and executed a roundhouse kick to disarm the woman of her sidearm.

"Hah!" The woman executed a double backflip of her own in an attempt to get away.

"I'm heading in!" Hiryu activate the artificial muscles of his Trident Armored Machine Suit so that he can move fast before the woman can get away. He had slinged the G36C on his back so that it won't get in his way.

Leon decided to move in as well, putting his M3 aside in order to draw out his Mercworx Sniper combat knife.

* * *

><p>Roof, somewhere in Mansion, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p><strong>"Our friends are busy being engaged by the woman in the red dress." <strong>

Geki reported his findings to Krauser while he watched the fight from another side of the roof to get a better view.

**"Ah let the bitch handle them." **Krauser replied with some animosity towards the "familiar" woman. **"We've got bigger things to worry back there."**

**"Understood, Krauser. I shall make my way back then."**

**"Besides, she can handle herself out there."**

The ninja nodded and dashed away from the rooftop, making minimal noise as he moved back to rendezvous with Krauser and the other hired mercenaries.

* * *

><p>Long Gallery, Mansion, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Hiryu was at arm's length near the shades-wearing Asian woman when the two engaged each other in unarmed combat. The woman used the butt of her pistol as a melee weapon, swinging it in the hope of striking the SHADOW agent's temple to score a hit.<p>

"Up, up..." Hiryu moved his head left to right before he used his right forearm to block the incoming strike meant for his forehead. "HAH!"

"My, my, my." The Asian woman smirked upon seeing that her attack was blocked. "I never thought that I'd see you here."

"You're quite familiar, lady." Hiryu gritted his teeth before he shoved her away. "Let's see if I can recognize you."

The SHADOW agent executed an uppercut to disarm the woman of her pistol.

This gave Leon the opportunity to move in when the woman performed a backflip in order to get the falling pistol. The blonde DSO agent held his combat knife in a reverse grip and timed it carefully so that he would move in behind the woman and grip her left arm. In doing so, her movements were restricted.

_What the? _The woman noted that Leon and Hiryu trapped her from both sides.

"Gotcha, lady." Hiryu moved in to disarm the shades-wearing woman of her XD. "Looks like you're not going to be quite agile now without your pistol."

"Next time, do yourself a favor and buy yourself a knife like some of us here do." Leon advised the woman as he eyed Hiryu pulling the slide of the XD to empty it of a total of 13 rounds out of 16 rounds since 3 rounds were fired a while ago. "Besides, they work better in close encounters."

The woman smirked after she watched Hiryu toss the unloaded pistol onto the ground, magazine included, to show her Leon's point. Leon, for his part, twirled the Sniper in his right hand before he sheathed it.

"Leon..." Everyone in the long gallery was shocked to hear the woman call out Leon's name. "Long time no see."

"Leon, buddy." Kevin was a bit cautious when he heard the Asian woman call out Leon's name after she took off her shades. "How you do know this woman?"

"Yeah, Leon. How do you know her?" Jill was now raising an eyebrow when she faced Leon, still aiming her sidearm at the disarmed woman.

"I do know her, guys." Leon told his allies. "Her name's Ada Wong. I met her back when Raccoon City was under the zombie infestation in 1998."

"All the more reason why we SHADOWs should rub her out." Hiryu said in anger before he shouldered his G36C and aimed it at Ada's chest. Dan shouldered his SIG SG 552 Commando and aimed it at Ada's forehead.

"So it is true, Ada." Leon sighed when he watched Hiryu and Dan aim their assault carbines at her.

"True?" Ada tried to play innocent in front of Leon and the others. "About what?"

"You. Working with Wesker."

"I see you've been doing your homework."

The group failed to note Ada casually dropped her shades, which was set to detonate after 60 minutes.

"Just because of you working with him..." Yu glared at Ada with his G3A3 aimed at her. "A lot of good people had to die in Japan."

"What's it to you guys anyway?" Ada was not fazed by the SHADOW agents and their weapons.

"Why are you here?" Leon interrogated Ada, not believing that she was alive in the first place. _Dammit, I remember her being dead in my arms._

"Hey, hey, hey..." Kevin tried to interrupt Leon for a few seconds. "Are you saying that this hot chick is in cahoots with the ex-STARS guys Albert Wesker?"

"It sure sounds to be the case." Eriko told Kevin as she kept her sidearm aimed at Ada.

"Besides," Leon continued to talk to Ada. "You just show up like this and..."

Ada casually glanced at the side, looking at the ground to see the lens of her shades saying that the countdown is already at zero.

"Crap! The shades!" Hiryu quickly moved in and grabbed the shades with his right hand. However, the shades detonated before it could be disposed of.

Everyone in the room got temporarily blinded as the shades detonated like a flashbang, except that it had a lot of flash and smoke than a conventional flashbang.

This gave Ada enough time to execute a flip in order to retrieve the dropped XD and the magazine. The spy moved in to the entrance and used her grappling pistol to fire a line from the long gallery, smashing a window in the process.

"I'll see you around." Ada smirked at a dazed Leon.

"I cannot see." Fujino was dazed that she was forced to kneel.

Ada then stared at a fallen Hiryu, who was temporarily blinded by the flash. The black-haired woman gave another smirk. "I'll see you around too, boy."

"Why you!" Hiryu snarled while he tried to fight off the flash effects. "Come over here so I can...!"

Sho dashed over to help his protégé recover from the flash, coughing from the overwhelming smoke. He was quite far from where the shades detonated, which gave him a lot of recovery time from the flash.

"Aww..." Ada cooed. "Don't be like that, boy."

With that, Ada leaped over the broken window and pulled the trigger of her grappling pistol, which led her to a safe distance from Leon or from the others.

It would take a few more minutes for everyone to recover from the flash.

* * *

><p>Adam Benford's Office, DSO Headquarters, somewhere in Virginia, United States of America<p>

* * *

><p>Adam was now back in his office in DSO Headquarters, pondering over the information he got from Bruce. To make sure that the information can be corroborated, Bruce was ordered to come to his office and sit down.<p>

"So Bruce, are you certain that you can say to my face that the CIHL scientist you brought in is green as a whistle?" Adam asked Bruce, who was leaning back in his seat.

Bruce pondered on Adam's question before he replied, "I'm pretty sure, chief. The scientist in custody looked green all right. I think he didn't know what his superiors were doing besides their so-called work as an anti-paranormal group."

Adam nodded when he heard Bruce's answer. "I've been told by Hunnigan that the Center's been doing anti-CIHL operations aside from doing anti-Umbrella operations. To be honest, I don't know if they'll be good enough to pull two ops at once. That information was provided by the Center's Security & Intelligence Division."

"Sir. Are you saying that..."

"Yes, Bruce. I'm certain that the Center and the CIHL have been in a little war of their own over the CIHL's attempt to attack the Center."

"Is that important in our investigation with the First Daughter's kidnapping?"

"Not really. For now, we keep the scientist here for a while. I have some fears that the FBI may have been penetrated."

"I'll assume that you won't let them know about it?"

Adam shook his head.

**"Excuse me, sir. There's a call from Washington." **Adam was briefly interrupted from his secretary via intercom.

**"Do you know who the call is from?" **Adam replied to the secretary's call.

**"From the White House, sir. They said it's pretty urgent."**

**"Understood. Tell them that I'll answer the call in a few minutes."**

* * *

><p>Long Gallery, Mansion, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"Everyone okay?!" Sho shouted when he helped Hiryu sit up. Minutes later, Dan moved in to help Sho do the same thing.<p>

"I-I'm fine!" Martin replied loud while he rubbed his eyes to ensure his vision was fine.

"Leon." Kevin shook his head to clear out the flash from his eyes before he patted Leon's left shoulder. "I think you and me need to sit down and talk about what happened back there."

Tea went to work by placing the Red Gem on the Elegant Mask.

"Look." Leon sighed. "I know this looks bad for me..."

"I think it does." Jill faced Leon, who wasn't a bit impressed with the confrontation between Leon and Ada. "I think... you better come clean with whatever it is you got between you and this Ada Wong."

"All right, all right." Leon raised his hands up in defeat while Cammy and Chun-Li went to check on Hiryu to see if his eyesight has recovered. "It's a long story, so I'll cut it short."

"Fine by me." Kevin told Leon.

"As long as most of us here can get the message." Jill replied to Leon's insistence.

"Long story short it is." Leon sighed and placed a hand on top of his head. "I met Ada Wong when I was suppose to be reporting with the RPD's Select Police Force when I got word that the STARS was suppose to be disbanded. After I got there and noted that the city was under chaos, I met with Ada at the RPD's main station. She claimed that she was looking for an Umbrella scientist who went missing."

"I have a feeling that her cover story didn't last for long." Kevin said with confidence.

Leon agreed with his partner's assessment. "You're right. While I was trying to escape before the city was destroyed in a missile strike, I was told by a scientist named Annette Birkin that Ada was hired to steal a sample of the G-virus. Well..." The blonde DSO agent sighed again, remembering the events like they were yesterday, "I found her dead in my arms when she was shot. Or at least the way I saw it."

"But it looks like Ada survived the encounter to live on another day." Jill said, summarizing the events from what Leon had told them.

"Is... is everything alright?" Diana asked Jill. "Especially with Leon."

"Don't worry Diana." Jill reassured Diana that things are alright. "Things look... to be alright. It's just a coincidence the woman Leon spoke to a while ago was thought to be dead."

"I thought so too, young lady." Leon told Diana. "Until recent evidence the DSO acquired suggests that Ada's still alive and working with Wesker and a few of his associates."

"What about him?" Eriko pointed to Hiryu, who was being helped by Sho and Dan to stand up due to his proximity near the detonated shades.

"He may need a few more minutes." Dan told Eriko and the others. "He got really too close to the shades when they detonated."

"Okay." Leon nodded. "In the meantime, let's use the time to search whatever we can from this room."

"Already on it!" Martin ran around the room, taking out his I-Cutter to smash open a vase and acquire an Incendiary Grenade. Later, the blonde Canadian teenager smashed open another one to secure a Spinel.

"Java got this one." Java went over to armoire to take a box of 9mm Parabellum ammo.

"Java." Jill approached the caveman and told him. "You can hand that to me. I might be running down on ammo."

"Okay, Jill." Java nodded and handed the box of ammo to Jill.

"Thanks, Java. You're the best." Jill accepted it with a smile.

Java nodded again and smiled back at Jill.

* * *

><p>Adam Benford's Office, DSO Headquarters, somewhere in Virginia, United States of America<p>

* * *

><p>Adam told Bruce to leave since he needed to take the call from Washington at once.<p>

**"I'm afraid not, Mr. President. I spoke to our allies who are involved in the operation." **The head of the DSO spoke calmly to the president before he added, **"Yes, sir. They're having much difficulty like us."**

Adam reclined back on his seat while he listened to what the president was telling him.

**"I'm trying to get FOS to crack the jamming wave prior to communications being cut off." **Adam replied to the president's concerns on the line. **"I understand, Mr. President. That's taking top priority."**

The ex-military officer took an anti-headache pill and drank it with a glass of water.

_I think my conversations with the president are going to take a toll to my health if this keeps up._

Adam thought about Leon and Kevin and wondered if they'll be able to come back alive with Ashley in tow.

**"Understood, Mr. President. I'll update you when I have significant news."**

After he ended the call, Adam pressed the intercom button and told his secretary to get Hunnigan summoned straight to his office. When asked what it was about, Adam told her that it was about intel updates from the FOS.

_I wonder if it's not too late to make future plans soon about becoming the next president of the United States?_

* * *

><p>Long Gallery, Mansion, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Dan and Fujino assisted Hiryu to sit down on a chair and await for his eyesight to be normal again.<p>

"By the way," Kevin asked Martin and Diana while the group took a break from fighting in the hedge maze. "what's Hiryu's deal with Ada?"

"Yeah. I never understood that part with him." Leon added. "From the look on his face, it seemed that he wanted to fire his assault carbine at her until his ammo's all used up."

"Look guys..." Martin replied to Leon's concerns. "Diana and I don't know much about the details here." The blonde teenager turned his head around before he faced the DSO agents. "But before he joined up with the Center again, he was involved in another operation against that Ada woman in Japan a few years ago.."

"And..." Kevin pressed the Center agents for more details.

"That's all we know really." Diana replied and shrugged her shoulders. "Hiryu is just... a private person when it comes to details like that."

"I see." Leon sighed. "I guess the thing we can do for now is to take a little break."

"I agree." Kevin nodded. "Considering that we didn't have time to eat or drink, I think most of us are pretty tired from the fighting going on back in the hedge maze."

"The thing is, where do we get food? Unless the merchant guy is around..."

"How's about we go and check the nearest room then?" Tea suggested to Leon when she pointed the nearest open door to him.

"Thanks, Tea."

Leon and Tea went to check out the nearest room, the former drew out his Silver Ghost since having a shotgun may not be suitable if he needs to fire the weapon in close quarters.

"Kevin. Stay here with the others in case things get a bit messy here." Leon conducted a brass check on his Silver Ghost before he proceeded towards the open room ahead.

"You got it, Leon." Kevin gave a thumbs up.

"I'll go and check this room here to make sure it's clear of hostiles."

* * *

><p>Den, Mansion, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"Ah! Welcome back strangahs!"<p>

Leon had just aimed his sidearm inside the den when he just heard the familiar greeting from the Merchant.

"Jeez!" Leon groaned before he holstered his sidearm. "You could have least tried your best to know our names by now since we're your only customers ever since we're under attack by the cult."

"I know strangah." The Merchant nodded. "But where's the fun in that?"

"You know what?" Leon sighed in frustration. "Never mind."

"Excuse me for a few minutes, gentlemen." Tea went over to over the double doors of a wooden cabinet and took out a Mirror with pearls and rubies on all sides.

"What's this here?" Leon saw a note on a small roundtable. But as usual, he wasn't able to read it since it's in Spanish.

"Eriko! I need you here!" The ex-SPF recruit called out for the Japanese detective to see her.

"What is it?" Eriko came inside the den while Tea kept the mirror she recently picked up.

"Here." Leon handed Eriko the note he got. "It's in Spanish, but it could provide us more clues as to what happened here."

"Alright." Eriko took the note from Leon and read over its contents.

**There seems to be a female intruder among us. We believe she's connected with Sera. We also believe that she was the one who removed the egg injected into Sera before it hatched. She may have had him retrieve the "sample" before the the arrival of the intruders.**

** It's obvious that her objective is the "sample". We must get to her before she is able to re-establish contact with Sera. There's also reason to believe that she's working for somebody. We need her alive for interrogation.**

** The female should be able to answer all our questions. After we have captured her, Sera will no longer be of any concern. As long as we retrieve the "sample", you may dispose of him as you see fit.**

"Anything substantial?" Leon asked while he checked his M3 to see if it needs to be reloaded.

"Looks like Ms. Wong is the intruder the cult's looking for." Eriko told Leon as she waved the piece of paper. "But so far, it seems that she's one step ahead of them."

"That's..." Leon was about to speak when he was silent a bit to think of the proper words to use. He then said, "probably a good thing for her. Least I don't need to worry about her."

"Are you sure that you're not hiding anything from us about her?"

"No. I'm positive."

"Hello." Tea greeted the Merchant. "I hope that you're ready for some bartering."

"Indeed." The Merchant said while he nodded. "I have some rare things for sale after all, strangah."

"Of course." Tea gave a slight nod before she presented the mirror. "Allow me to sell this to you, then."

"Ahhhhh..." The Merchant looked very pleased when he held the mirror in his hands. "I'll buy it at a high price."

"How much?"

"How does 12,000 pesetas sound to you, strangah?"

"That's a done deal."

Next, Tea presented to the Merchant three Velvet Blues the group had collected over time. "I'm selling these Velvet Blues for the usual price."

The Merchant picked up the Velvet Blue and examined them closely with his eyes. He then nodded and pocketed them. "Understood, young lady. I'll buy them for a total of 7500 pesetas."

"Not at all." Tea replied, satisfied with the price the Merchant had agreed on.

"Anything else you need to sell, strangah?"

"Three Spinels." Tea showed the Merchats the Spinels on her left hand. "I'll sell them to you for 6000 pesetas."

"Agreed, strangah." The Merchant took the Spinels from Tea's hand and pocketed them.

"One more thing." Tea handed to the Merchant the Elegant Perfume Bottle. As usual, he looked very pleased when he saw the item.

"Ahhhh..." The Merchant was very glad to see the item. "I'll buy it at a high price!"

"For how much?"

"10,000 pesetas. Take it or leave it."

"A done deal."

The Merchant took the Elegant Perfume Bottle and handed all of the money the two had agreed on for the items Tea had sold to him.

"And what kind of rare item do you have for sale, if I may ask?" Tea asked the Merchant after she allowed him to get the Spinels from her.

The Merchant nodded and grinned. "Then allow me to show you the latest wares that I have."

The hood-wearing man placed his wooden backpack down and opened the compartment door, showing off a rifle-like weapon.

"This, my dear, is the Mine Launcher." The Merchant took out the Mine Launcher from the wooden backpack. "Quite the versatile weapon, if I may say so myself." He then subsequently placed the Mine Launcher so that she and anyone else who wanted to get a good look can look at the weapon from all sides.

Leon turned around to see the Merchant place the Mine Launcher on the roundtable. He gave a whistle in approval of the new weapon.

"How much is this guy?" Leon patted the buttstock of the Mine Launcher. _If we're to buy this, I just hope that we got some dough for this._

The Merchant pondered on how much the Mine Launcher was. "I believe the Mine Launcher costs around..." He patted the buttstock before he snapped his left thumb and middle fingers in unison. "Ah yes. This costs 28,000 pesetas!"

"W-what?!" Leon said in shock of the Mine Launcher's price.

"And then..." The Merchant placed the Mine Launcher's riflescope down on the roundtable next to the Mine Launcher before he told Leon, Tea and Eriko, "this Mine Launcher riflescope costs around 8000 pesetas."

"Which means that costs around 36,000 pesetas in total." Leon sighed after he was told of the prices. "That'll cost us a lot of money just to buy this weapon."

"I have this too for sale, strangahs." The next weapon the Merchant got from the wooden backpack was a Colt Single Action Army, which had a brand new condition. He placed it on the roundtable next to the Mine Launcher.

"A Single Action Army?" Leon asked the Merchant.

"I see that you're very familiar with your small arms, strangah." The Merchant grinned at Leon before he said, "This here is the Single Action Army made by Colt. Has a total of 6 rounds in .357 Magnum caliber."

"How much is it?" Leon took a hold of the SAA and ejected the cylinder to see if it was loaded with bullets.

He didn't need further confirmation since .357 Magnum bullets were already loaded onto the cylinder. Satisfying his curiosity, Leon placed the cylinder back into the revolver before he left it back onto the roundtable.

"The retail price for this revolver is for 38,000 pesetas." The Merchant replied.

"That's a lot of money." Eriko commented when she heard the prices for the Mine Launcher and the riflescope with the SAA.

"Is there any way we can talk about lowering the prices to make things very easy for us?" Leon was now trying to haggle his way with the Merchant in order to settle things with a much more fairer price.

Which would depend on how fair the price would be for the Merchant since he needed to make money for a living.

* * *

><p>Long Gallery, Mansion, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Java could feel his stomach grumbling shortly after he sat down on the floor to catch a break.<p>

"Something wrong, big guy?" Martin went over to see if Java was all right.

"Java's stomach make noise." Java sighed and pointed to his stomach with his right index finger. "Not feeling bit good."

"You're not the only one who's hungry around here." Kevin pointed to his own stomach. "Heck, I'm not even sure if all of us remembered the last time we had the time to go and take a leak."

Yu saw that Dan was trying to press his hands towards his crotch in order to hold off the pressure of needing to piss.

"You need to piss, Dan?" Hiryu massaged his eyes and blinked them a few times when he saw Dan doing his antics.

"I think it's about time we took a small break." Cammy surmised her thoughts. "And that would consist of eating, drinking and pissing."

"The thing is..." Chun-Li pondered on her thoughts. "Where do we get food and where can we piss at a time like this?"

"I'm pretty sure that's a good question that we all like to answer." Sho told the Interpol detective when he was seen leaning on the wall to relax a bit.

Chapter 17 END

* * *

><p>PS - Hope this chapter is good. It's also about time I debuted Delta Red in here. To those who don't know, Delta Red is an anti-terrorist team that operates under the auspices of MI:6 aka the Secret Intelligence Service, the British external intelligence service. The group has six-seven members, counting Cammy in the unit.<p>

IIRC, Delta Red doesn't have that much exposure aside from the usual Street Fighter supplementary material with Cammy. I just wish more material can come up soon to explore more about the unit aside from the UDON comics.

To be very honest, I had a pretty hard time doing the stuff on the hedge maze with the Colmillo. I just decided to streamline most of the stuff, but with important stuff like finding the Moonstones in the maze so that things are easier for me to handle and not let my brain have a mental overload and perhaps, get another headache. I hope that I didn't piss anyone off because of that.

I recently heard a fanfic author, Resurrection of Kouryuo Sabre, has passed away recently. I really enjoyed this guy's work with his take on the Gundam SEED series. My late condolences to him and to his immediate family. I dedicate this chapter in his memory. I didn't have much opportunity to interact with him, but I surely enjoyed reading his stories. I just hope that the other authors who took the step to continue with his discontinued stories (after talking with Sabre obviously) will continue to do those, as long as the stories are still being done.

In the meantime, read and review the chapter and let me know how it is, regardless of your opinion. If you got an idea that you may want me to try, shoot it too in a review. Thanks and good day/night, wherever you are.

* * *

><p>Pesetas in Total = 205,900<p> 


	18. Castle Exploration, Part 2

Resident Evil/Biohazard: Hostage Rescue

Rating: T

NOTE:

All characters of Resident Evil/Captain Commando/Street Fighter are under the copyright of Capcom. All characters of Martin Mystery are under the copyright of Marathon. All characters of Kara no Kyokai are under the copyright of TYPE-MOON. All characters of Spriggan are under the copyright of Hiroshi Takashige and Ryoji Minagawa. All characters of Jiraishin are under the copyright of Tsutomu Takahashi. The appearance of Kenneth "Kenny" Feng is under noctorro's jurisdiction. All others are under my jurisdiction.

There's a cameo of characters, but you'll see them later on in this chapter. Also, I don't own any copyright to them. They belong to their respective creators/distributors.

Summary:

Leon and the group had met up with Ada Wong, corporate spy and now ally of Wesker in seeking the Las Plagas virus from the Los lluminados. Seeking refuge in another part of the Salazar Castle, can they survive the odds being thrown against them and rescue Ashley? Stay tune to this chapter to find out.

Chapter 18: Castle Exploration, Part 2

* * *

><p>Long Gallery, Mansion, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Sho leaned on the wall at the castle's mansion in order to concentrate. The ninja commandovigilante concentrated his thoughts on being hungry, especially since he hasn't eaten or drank anything since he had infiltrated the countryside on his own accord without the other Commando team members by his side.

He wondered if it was the right thing to simply conduct the operation in Spain against the cult without Captain Commando or the others as usual.

* * *

><p>MOM's Office, The Center<p>

* * *

><p><em>"I did not expect to be summoned here back at the Center after my stint as an unarmed combat instructor was over."<em>

_Sho stood in front of MOM's office table, standing at full attention with his arms crossed near his chest._

_"I know." The head of the Center sighed. "And I'm sorry that I had to call you away from your duty with the Commandos."_

_The ninja knew that she would need his help. "What's so important that my presence is needed?"_

_MOM showed him a folder that had the words CLASSIFIED stamped on the cover in blue stamp ink._

_"And this is?"_

_"Some of your protégés have been deployed in Spain on an assignment." MOM sighed. "But I fear the worst is yet to come."  
><em>

_Sho read over the folder, which contained information on Los Illuminados._

_"I suppose that the underworld knows about the cult's responsibility for kidnapping the First Daughter?" The ninja asked MOM.  
><em>

_"I also got underworld chatter that the cult has hired some muscle for a showdown in case my agents or the DSO would intervene and covertly send their agents as a message to not interfere with them."_

_Sho nodded. "Alright. I'll go and help..."_

_"Try and keep it low key as well. I don't want the enemy to know of your arrival..."_

_"Understood, MOM."_

* * *

><p>Long Gallery, Mansion, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"Master!"<p>

"Hm?"

Sho was about to draw out Lightning Light on instinct, if he did not see Dan right in front of him. One of the first generation SHADOW agents trained under his watch.

"Apologies." The ninja sighed in relief that he might have killed him if he did not confirm that he was still in safe territory. "Is there something up, Dan?"

The Malaysian SHADOW agent nodded. "Yeah. I think Leon and Jill tried to speak to the Merchant if they can get some food from him."

"How did it go?" The ninja asked his protégé.

"It's good." Dan said when he showed Sho a wrapped piece of sandwich. "It's not much, but the guy's kind enough to sell them from a bulk package that he has for a few pesetas. I think it's a hundred for one package that contained fourteen pieces of sandwiches."

"I just wonder how he lugs around this much merchandise with him?" Sho mused, wondering how the Merchant can do despite the fact that he's alone in Los llluminados territory and away from Madrid's control.

"I don't know that myself, master." Dan shrugged his shoulders. "I'm just glad that we can get to eat something before we move out again."

"And the others?" Sho examined the sandwich wrapped in a plastic sandwich bag.

"Either they're eating or they're trying to get an early opportunity to get a toilet break. I don't know if they'll try to be tidy, considering we're still in enemy territory."

Sho took out the sandwich from the plastic bag and sniffed it. The ninja then stared at Dan afterwards.

"I tried it. It's Peanut Butter Almond." Dan told Sho. "Actually, it's not that bad."

The ninja commando looked carefully at the sandwich at his right hand one more time.

"Ah..." Sho murmured. "Well it's better than nothing."

While Sho brought down the scarf in order to bite the sandwich, the ninja saw that the others were either still eating, preparing their weapons or returning back from their needed toilet break.

* * *

><p>MOM's Office, The Center<p>

* * *

><p>"Billy."<p>

MOM spoke up as soon as her personal assistant came back inside her office.

"Here, MOM. I've checked in through all the media outlets in America and Canada." Billy handed her an electronic tablet. "So far, they're still quiet. But the forum boards that are used by conspiracy theorists and the like are making suggestions that the White House is covering something up."

MOM frowned when she read the tablet. _I'm not liking this at all._

"Is there something you want me to tell the Security & Intelligence Division later?"

"Get them to continue surveillance on our mole and see if he's met up with Wesker." MOM gave her instructions to Billy before she handed the tablet back to the green alien. "Also, get SID to run an information campaign against the conspiracy theorist forum boards in the internet. I suspect the DSO will do the same thing to keep things very quiet until the First Daughter is secured from the cult."

"Understood, MOM." The alien left her office to get back to work.

* * *

><p>Long Gallery, Mansion, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"You guys done yet?"<p>

Leon approached Dan and Sho alongside Kevin after the latter had just finished eating the sandwich.

"Better than no food at all." The ninja commando told the DSO agents. "What's our next move?"

"Obviously to get in deeper in Salazar's own castle." Leon told the vigilante hero. "I'm just waiting to see if anyone's ready to move out when we're done eating and answering the call of nature."

"I know I'm done." Kevin said as he stretched his arms up high.

"How do we do this then?" Dan asked. "We split up into the usual teams?"

"Most likely." Kevin replied to the SHADOW agent's question. "One of us will have to venture forth and clear out the hostiles while the other stays a bit behind to help secure the rear and make sure no one tries to do a sneak attack against us."

"Alright." Leon nodded. "I think we better start things up right now."

* * *

><p>Adam Benford's Office, DSO Headquarters, somewhere in Virginia, United States of America<p>

* * *

><p>Adam had just returned from a toilet break at DSO Headquarters when he received a call from his intercom.<p>

**"Excuse me, sir. President Graham has just called in."**

The DSO head pressed a button on the intercom in order to speak through it. **"Thank you. I'll take care of the call myself."**

Adam quickly went back to his seat and answered the call by picking up the phone handle.

**"Yes, Mr. President?"**

The white-haired man sighed when he leaned back on his seat. _This is not good._

**"I understand the pressure you're facing from the Joint Chiefs on sending in Delta..." **Adam began to speak up after the president spoke up first. **"But like I've said before, the ones responsible for kidnapping your daughter came fully prepared."**

Adam waited to listen to the president before he replied, **"That's right, Mr. President, the kidnappers have complete control to the point that they're able to block all forms of communication between us and my DSO agents in Spain."**

The glasses-wearing man sighed again and massaged his temples. _Right, that isn't going to go well at all._

**"Please, sir. Don't try to act in any way that can get us in trouble with the Spanish government." **Adam was silent for a few seconds before he continued, **"I'm getting some help from the Center."**

A reply came from the president. **"Yes, sir. I'll continue to monitor for any changes to the situation. Thank you, sir." **Adam placed the phone handle back to the cradle when Bruce came inside after he knocked.

"Sir, what do we do with the CIHL scientist we took into custody?" Bruce stood in front of Adam's desk, clearly looking very tired.

"Let's keep him in our custody for a few more days, see if we can get more details on CIHL's involvement in the kidnapping." Adam replied, who tapped his left index and middle finger on his desk.

* * *

><p>Long Gallery, Mansion, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"I assume that you're speaking with the Merchant?" Sho asked Leon when he drew out his Silver Ghost.<p>

"Aside from being able to pick up a 1000 pesetas and no attempts to haggle down the prices for a couple of weapons, then yeah." Leon shrugged when he did a brass check on his Silver Ghost.

"What?" Kevin frowned when he showed a Single Action Army. "You mean you didn't know about this SAA that I picked up recently?"

"Uh..." Leon was shocked to see Kevin show off the revolver in front of him. "Actually, where did you get that?"

It was Kevin's turn to shrug. "Ah, I just picked it up from a chest a while ago."

"So you're using it?"

"I think it's about time that you need a weapon that can pack some heat aside from your Silver Ghost."

Leon took the SAA from Kevin and ejected the cylindrical chamber to examine the bullets inside.

"Looks like this one's chambered in .357 Magnum." The blonde DSO grinned when he examined the revolver chamber. "Perfect for those monsters that are hard to kill."

"Okay." Kevin nodded. "I can stay here with the others while you lead your team to clear out the way ahead."

"Maybe next time, we should decide on who's going to go next." Leon said before he mused. "Maybe rock, paper, scissors?"

"Sure. Whatever rocks your boat."

Leon gestured to his comrades that he was about to leave and explore the area ahead of them.

"We'll see you later then." Hien gave a thumbs up to Hiryu while the others checked their gear and weapons to make sure that they were ready.

"Sure." Hiryu returned the gesture too.

"Don't die on us, you hear?"

Leon and his team gathered up near the door leading out of the area they're in. Prior to stacking up near the door, he had tucked the SAA in his waistband since he doesn't have an appropriate holster for it.

_Hopefully we won't encounter a lot of opposition. I'll probably ask the Merchant if he can sell me a holster for the SAA.  
><em>

Leon was the first to position himself by the side of the door. His Silver Ghost was at his right hand while he used his left hand to reach for the door knob.

_Go._ Eriko patted Leon's left shoulder, which gave the latter the signal to open the door and get inside to wherever they're suppose to go to.

* * *

><p>Dining Room, Mansion, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Leon was the first to enter the Dining Room, with his sidearm leveled at each and every nook and cranny of the place to ensure that the place was safe from hostiles.<p>

"Looks all clear to me." Jill said when she took a quick scan of the room when she drew out her Beretta Px4 Type F pistol.

"Something tells me that it means that the enemy's going to come, sooner or later." Hien commented on their situation when he shouldered his Pindad SS1-M5 Commando compact assault rifle.

"Let's go and look around first before we do anything hasty." Dan suggested when he checked his Sig SG 552 assault rifle to make sure it was loaded.

"I found something." Cammy went to search a nearby dining table for a Green Herb.

"Nicely done." Leon said before he inspected a commemorative plaque mounted on the wall and read the inscription. _What does this say?_

**Bread begins the meal of life.**

"Is something wrong?" Diana approached Leon when the female Center agent saw the blonde man check out the plaque.

"This one." Eriko pointed to the plaque after he faced Diana. "It says that _bread begins the meal of life_."

"Sounds like something from the Christian Bible." Hien commented when he heard Leon's voice from reading the plaque.

"I'd agree." Jill replied to Eriko's comment when she took a good took at the plaque for herself. "But considering that they're a cult with bioweapons attached to their name..."

Jean broke a vase with the butt of his Franchi SPAS-12 and looted the shotgun shell box for himself.

"Found another one!" Dan shouted when he read another tablet mounted on the wall.

"What does it say?" Leon asked him.

"See for yourself." Dan stepped aside to show the DSO agent what the tablet said. It was in Spanish, but Eriko was able to read it fluently.

**Meat to savor the time at hand.**

"Meat to savor the time at hand." Eriko read the tablet in English while Jill stopped at another dining table to grab the box of 9mm bullets.

"There's a door up ahead." Diana went to the metal door with bars on it to see if it can be opened. "And it's locked..."

"Come on." Leon once again raised his Silver Ghost. "Let's clear the rest of this place out."

"Right." Jill nodded. She and the others with a gun raised their weapons, taking no chances with the possibility of being attacked by cultists at any time in the area.

Eriko stayed behind a bit to read another tablet on the wall.

**A dessert to cherish our remaining years.**

And then she found another one right next to the metal door.

**One last drink and the bottle breaks, returning us to the dust from whence we came.**

"I found this." Cammy found a counter and rang the bell on it.

"What the heck..." Dan muttered when he saw that it didn't do anything, except that a painting of a dinner table with French bread on a basket, a bottle of wine with a wine glass, a candle, a platter of assorted fruits and a roast chicken were found on the table.

"What we do now?" Java asked his teammates when he saw the painting.

"I'm running out of ideas..." Hien said out loud. "Doesn't help that the tablets don't say much, except that they probably refer to this painting."

"The tablet quotes do seem to end with reference to the wine thing." Diana said, suggesting something regarding the tablets.

Leon approached the counter and aimed his sidearm's iron sights at the painting. Specifically, right at the wine bottle.

"What the heck are you doing...?" The masked Spriggan was about to question Leon's decision to aim his Silver Ghost at the unveiled painting when the blonde man fired his sidearm at the wine bottle.

The said shot resulted in the wine bottle breaking up like an actual wine bottle made out of glass.

"I didn't expect to see that." Diana remarked after she saw Leon fire the shot at the painting.

"It's opening..." Jill said when she saw the door open up.

"I can head inside to scout ahead." Jean smirked when he got his SPAS-12.

Hien rolled his eyes. "My, aren't you cocky, Jean?"

Jean smirked at his comrade. "Heh, aren't I always?"

"Anyone else want to help Jean scout ahead?" Leon asked after he admired his "handiwork".

"I could." Dan shrugged his shoulders. "Provided that I don't get killed."

"What? You got some crystal ball that can predict the future?" Diana raised an eyebrow at Dan.

"Come on you two..." Jean was starting to get irritated. "We need to move." The French Spriggan agent made the configuration to fire his shotgun from pump-action to semi-automatic mode instead so that he wouldn't need to waste time firing the weapon.

* * *

><p>Traffic Section, Bokuto Police Station, Sumida, Tokyo, Japan<p>

* * *

><p>"Morning."<p>

Miyuki Kobayakawa entered the office of Bokuto Police Station's Traffic Section.

"Hey." Yoriko greeted Miyuki before Natsumi Tsujimoto came in a few seconds later, who yawned since she appeared to be dead tired.

"What happened to her?" Aoi Futaba asked Miyuki before the latter took her seat.

"Gundam marathon again." Miyuki sighed when she told Aoi. "I already told her to not watch the entire marathon if she can't handle waking up by 7 in the morning."

"Morning everyone." Kachou came inside the office and stood near his desk. "I just got information from Headquarters that we need to check new information regarding the culprits responsible for kidnapping the First Daughter of the President of the United States."

"Kachou." Yuka Endo addressed Kachou before she asked her question. "Do we need to help the Criminal Investigation and Security Sections?"

"They're making this a top priority. Especially since Headquarters has agreed to cooperate with the FBI and the National Police Force to keep this a secret in order to avoid tipping of their kidnappers." Kachou sighed before he continued with his debriefing. "An anonymous source trusted by HQ said that the Americans have arrested a Secret Service agent for allegedly leaking details on Ms. Graham's travel route from college."

"Hello, Kachou." Ryosuke Arisugawa greeted Kachou when he entered the office alongside Tokuno.

"Does Criminal Investigation have something to add, Tokuno-tantei?" Kachou asked the veteran detective.

"Nothing new." Tokuno sighed. "Except that the detective in Security have requested to still keep this under wraps until we get out fro the FBI and the NPF that the First Daughter is rescued successfully."

Ryosuke then added. "Considering that a Secret Service agent was the mole for the kidnapping, we can't take any chance of our involvement in the rescue operation to be leaked out. You all know the consequences of leaking this investigation to the public, even by accident..."

"Understood, Arisugawa-tantei." Kachou told the young detective before he eyed his subordinates. "Did you get all that?"

"Yes, sir!" All the uniformed Traffic Section officers replied in unison.

"We'll take our leave now." Tokuno thanked Kachou for his time before he and Ryosuke returned back to the Criminal Investigation Section office.

"I have something for you." Kachou went to his desk and took out an envelope. He then handed it to Miyuki.

"Thank you, Kachou." Miyuki was puzzled to see the envelope. "But what is this?"

Kachou didn't reply to the ponytailed officer's question, which made her curious that she decided to open it up.

"Miyuki, look." Natsumi pointed to the insignia printed on the letter.

"It's the emblem of the Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance." Miyuki murmured when she began to pull the letter out of the opened envelope.

"Um... Kachou?" Natsumi asked Kachou while Miyuki began to read the letter. It was written in English, so Miyuki has no problem with it since she's fluent with it aside from her native Japanese.

"I got it yesterday from HQ as well." Kachou explained to Natsumi. "Apparently, the BSAA caught word of Miyuki's actions back with the crisis regarding the Hachi-Ichi-Go Plan a few years ago and they want to give her a position in its East Asian division."

"You mean?"

"That's right. The BSAA's looking for potential candidates. You should read the letter later when Miyuki's done."

"Why do I have to..." Natsumi then realized what Kachou had just said when she found her name included in the letter. "Okay... Now things are going to get interesting around here."

"You don't have to decide right away. They're giving you a year at least to make the decision."

"I understand, Kachou."

"By the way, your friends at the LAPD's Parker Center are also being scouted out for the BSAA."

Miyuki and Natsumi looked at each other, feeling very worried on what the BSAA could do.

"Natsumi, do you think the BSAA would even bother to recruit the likes of... them for instance?"

"Yeah, I'm getting that feeling right now, Miyuki."

* * *

><p>Gallery Display Room, Dining Room, Mansion, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Jean, Hien and Dan went inside the room and saw a treasure chest in the middle of the room. It was placed on top of a small pedestal.<p>

Jean stared at the carpeted floor before he said. "Why do I get the feeling that this is all a trap waiting to be sprung?"

"So how do we know when it starts?" Dan said as he wondered near the pedestal.

"HOLD ON!" Jean started to run to Dan in order to make him stop moving around too much. But since the two of them were near the pedestal, their steps had activated a cage trap.

"Shit's getting bad here!" Hien turned around to see a metal gate that lowered itself to seal off the entrance from the dining room. He quickly changed the Pindad SS1-M5 Commando's fire selector from single to full automatic.

He could hear Leon trying to get the gate open, but he couldn't. Not even Java could help turn the situation around, despite being a caveman with near superhuman strength and everything.

"INCOMING!" Jean began to blast the lock on the door that would lead to him and Dan to escape from the trap. The former began firing his shotgun, thanking himself that he had the time to change its firing rate to semi-automatic.

"You better hurry there!" Dan took one of the incendiary grenades that he saved up. "Because we're about to get some company coming for us!"

Hien looked up and saw one of the Zealots leaping in over the cage trap from a ledge located over the area, armed with a flail.

"Oh shit..." Dan immediately took off the safety pin from the grenade when he saw the Garrador leap down over the cage from the same ledge.

"¡Que sí, quiero matar!"

* * *

><p>Briefing Room, Los Angeles Police Department Pacific Division Community Police Station, Los Angeles, California, United States of America<p>

* * *

><p>In the LAPD's Pacific Division Community Police Station, the Captain held a meeting at their Traffic Division office where he announced that most of the officers are needed to be present, except those who have shifts that conflict with the meeting time. Because of that part, they are excused from attending the meeting.<p>

"Now with the exception of officers who can't make it due to conflicting schedules with their shifts, I'll go and start this meeting." The Captain said while he adjusted his shades.

"Excuse me, captain." Sally Hancock, one of the Traffic Division's officer known to be a gun nut by her fellow officers, raised her hand. "But why did you summon the majority of the officers from the Traffic Division?"

"I'd sure like to know that too, captain." Ken "Cain" Matney, one of the few Traffic Division officers stationed at Pacific Division who uses a motorcycle in the course of his traffic enforcement duties, said from his seat next to Sally.

"Well, whatever it is, I'm sure that it's significant that we're summoned here and not the other officers from the other divisions and bureaus." Aoi Tipton sighed from her seat behind Sally.

"I'll address that question, Sally." The captain replied to address Sally's question when he showed a folder with the words CLASSIFIED stamped on it. "To begin with, the contents of this folder is very important that each and every officer in this room needs to pay attention to what I have to say."

Rico Weidner eyed the captain as he began to debrief the officers. "The chief wants to pass the word that the Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance is starting to look for potential candidates, considering the recent events regarding the Terragrigia Panic launched by the terrorist group, Il Vetro."

Sho Moss, a plainclothed officer who recently transferred to the LAPD's Counter Terrorism and Special Operations Bureau's Major Crimes Division from the Robbery-Homicide Division's Robbery Special Section under the Detective Bureau, came inside the briefing room and greeted the uniformed officers. For today, the detective wore a white shirt with a black windbreaker with a hoodie on alongside jeans and black combat boots.

"All right. To continue where I left off, the chief's announcing to all division that the BSAA's looking for candidates that their representatives will come to the station and interview everyone here to see if you're suitable for their line of work. When that time comes, I don't want to see or hear anything that can jeopardize your chances of joining them if you're thinking about signing up with them. That is all for the meantime. Questions?"

Rico raised her hand. "Captain, are you sure that we don't have to submit anything to the BSAA?"

The captain shook his hand. "I don't think so. The BSAA's being updated on the roster of active officers. But they'll be responsible for weeding out officers who they feel won't meet up with their standards."

Sally felt the captain glare his eyes through his shades.

"And that means don't do anything stupid that'll gain their attention in a negative way. Understood?"

"Y-yes, sir." Sally said with the other officers, albeit a bit nervous.

"Okay. You're all dismissed for now."

As the uniformed officers filed out of the briefing room, Sho approached the captain and spoke to him.

* * *

><p>Gallery Display Room, Dining Room, Mansion, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"Dammit!" Dan finally got the safety pin out of the incendiary grenades and threw it towards the flail-armed Zealot.<p>

The Zealot, in turn, began to burn up as the flames began to consume him.

"Here they come!" Hien opened fire with the SS1-M5 Commando at every Zealot he can see, hitting them with full automatic. So far, he counted a total of four armed Zealots with the same weapon. With his back near the gate that sealed off the dining room from the room the trio, there wasn't any way for the masked Spriggan to expect reinforcements.

_Guess I need to take them out ASAP!_

Hien focused the sight of the mounted red dot and went to clear the room of the Zealots while Jean's shotgun blast made short work of the lock that barred the use of the door. The blonde man kicked it hard, enabling him and Dan to escape.

"Let's move!" Jean shouted when he shot one of the Zealots at the back with a blast from his SPAS-12. He then emptied the magazine at the downed Zealot until his body dissolved. Afterwards, he began to top off his shotgun to full magazine capacity.

"Hah!" Dan used the other incendiary grenade, safety pin removed of course, and hurled it towards the two Zealots that tried to corner Hien. They began to burn up when the flames consumed them.

Hien took the opportunity of finishing off the downed Zealot by proceeding to reload his his compact assault rifle with another 30-round magazine.

The Garrador, in the meantime, was slowly walking towards the opening Jean had made, already seemingly ready to fight after it heard gunshots.

"Now to take care of this guy." Jean motioned Dan to come to him.

"What?" Dan asked the shotgun-armed man.

"According to what Jill and Kevin told me about their last encounter, that thing uses sound to sense us." Jean said while he watched the Garrador slowly walking about the interior part of the cage trap. "You be the bait and I'll shoot him from the back at the parasite."

"Okay..." Dan said and sighed softly.

"And be careful. Unlike the last time, we're in close quarters. One wrong move and we're done for."

Dan nodded in reply before he shouted. "HEY UGLY! I'M OVER THERE! I BET YOU CAN'T GET ME SINCE YOU'RE LITERALLY BLIND!"

This made the Garrador walk a bit faster towards the open path out of the cage trap. Jean gestured to Hien to walk silently.

"COME ON! I'M OVER HERE!"

The Garrador smacked its claws together and got ready to pursue Dan. This, however, gave Jean the opening he needs by firing the SPAS-12 twice after he reloaded it. This attacked forced the Garrador to kneel down before he tried to execute a backfist attack with his clawed hand.

"Hah!" Hien shouted when he kicked the glass off a cabinet in order to secure an unused flashbang.

This sound made the Garrador charge for the cabinet, stabbing it with its claws.

Jean had a grin written all over his face when he shouldered and fired the SPAS-12 again, this time with three blasts at the exposed parasite. This worked until the Garrador collapsed onto the ground, parasite already destroyed.

The Frenchman approached the corpse and secured the body of its loot worth 15,000 pesetas.

"Two more!" Hien shouted when he loaded his SS1-M5 when two more Zealots leaped down from the ledge and into the interior of the cage trap.

"On me!" Dan fired his SIG SG 552 carbine at one of the flail-armed Zealots while Hien did the same with the other one. When both Zealots were riddled with holes in their bodies, their heads exploded and exposed the parasites from the neck.

"That's kinda gross." Dan said out loud. "Probably will need to see the psychologist later."

"Let's try this for size!" Hien removed the safety pin from the newly acquired flashbang and tossed it onto the carpeted floor, killing off the parasites after they detached from the necks and began to move around like scorpions.

"Cover your eyes!" Dan shouted as he, Hien and Jean covered their eyes with their arms as the flash of light from the primed flashbang killed off the parasites in an instant.

After a few seconds, the light died off and the gate leading to the dining room opened up.

"Let me check this out." Jean slung the shotgun on his back while he began to check if the treasure chest's lid was rigged or not. After seeing that it was not the case, he opened it up and saw that the contents only consisted of an hourglass with gold decorations around it.

"Found it." Jean showed the others the hourglass before he pocketed it.

"Now the only thing left to do is to search and secure anything that we can get." Dan casually reloaded his SG 552 carbine after the fight was over.

"Right." Jean told Dan. "Let's search the place and secure whatever we can."

While Dan and Hien swept the place to make sure that they can secure either money or ammunition, Jean casually walked to Leon and told him that the coast is clear and that they need to pull back in order to sell the hourglass he got, as well as to refill their ammo.

* * *

><p>Long Gallery, Mansion, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Leon led his back to the long gallery, being greeted by Kevin and the others. Jean approached Tea and handed her the hourglass he acquired.<p>

"So what did you guys get?" Kevin asked Leon.

"Just some shotgun shells and some money worth 3500 pesetas." Leon said while he shrugged his shoulders. "Also found an hourglass that could be sold to the merchant."

"Any ammo?"

"Here." Leon handed him a box of 7.62 NATO subsonic bullets with a box of 5.56 NATO bullets. "For you and Jill. You could use them when you need to reload."

"So what's our next move?" Chun-Li asked while Tea went off to see the merchant.

"The only way out is to proceed to the dining room." Jean told the INTERPOL agent. "I've found a door that could take us further into the castle, but I convinced the others to stop by and restock and reload."

"I just hope the First Daughter is all right with our present situation." Yu sighed while he unslung his Heckler & Koch G3A3 from his back and ported it in his arms.

"Okay." Tea regrouped with the others and told them of her news. "I sold the hourglass Jean found for 12,000 pesetas."

"The merchant agreed to it?" Jill asked the British Spriggan.

Tea nodded. "Seems that he was fine with the price."

Leon looked at Hien and Dan, the two of them done with reloading their weapons. "You guys are done?"

"Yeah." Dan replied after he pulled the bolt on his SG 552.

"Same here with me." Hien replied as well when he pulled the bolt of his SS1-M5 Commando.

"Ah, Leon." Tea approached the blonde DSO agent and handed him a shoulder holster. "Take this."

"What is this?" Leon asked Tea, feeling very curious about the shoulder holster offered to him.

"The merchant said that he offers this on the house." Tea explained to him.

"Okay..." Leon went to work and took off his shoulder holster and examined the shoulder holster Tea handed to him. It appeared to have holster provisions for a revolver and a semi-automatic. To his luck, the holster also has a provision for him to hold semi-automatic magazines on it.

"Great." Leon wore the new shoulder holster. "As long as it doesn't slow me down."

"So you're just going to leave it there?" Hiryu asked Leon when he was done wearing the new shoulder holster.

"Yeah. I was due to have that thing replaced anyway." Leon said when he got the Benelli M3 he handed to Kevin while he changed shoulder holsters.

"Let's move out and get the heck outta here." Kevin said when he got out his Glock 21 Mariner from his personal shoulder holster.

* * *

><p>Gallery Display Room, Dining Room, Mansion, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"So this is the place that you guys got stuck in? Quite impressive for an elaborate trap."<p>

Kevin admired the cage trap as the teams walked inside the room. They stopped and looked around to make sure the coast is clear.

"I would assume that the corpse of the clawed being was done by your team as well?" Fujino asked Leon when she saw the corpse of the Garrador.

"That's right." Jean said when he stared at the Garrador's corpse. "I have to admit that he's one tough opponent."

"Which reminds me..." Yu asked Jean. "Isn't its eyes stitched up?"

"That's..." Diana felt creeped out when the Japanese Spriggan asked the question. "kind of gross."

"But that tactic makes things more interesting for its masters when it fights us." Sho stepped in to say his point. "It does seem to indicate that the cult has ambitions to create their own unique supersoldier to use against their adversaries."

"I'd rather not see those things again in the near future." Jill sighed. "I'd be worried about us running out of ammunition at a certain point."

"I'll take the lead." Kevin took the lead in opening the door, but he did it slowly so that he can use the element of surprise in case an enemy would be waiting at the other side of the door.

* * *

><p>Art Gallery, Mansion, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Kevin peeked through the door that led to the mansion's large room that serves as its art gallery.<p>

"Let's have a look first." Kevin gestured to his comrades to wait while he walked out to scout out the short hallway. He held his Glock 21 Mariner in a weaver stance.

The only thing that the brown-haired DSO agent noted was the absence of any path that would lead to the other side of the room. Kevin clearly saw that there was a door on the other side on the upper floor of the art gallery.

_How do you get across from there?_

Kevin turned around and gestured to his allies that the coast is clear. He started to crouch down to prevent the Zealots from seeing him to a minimum.

_We better proceed more carefully. I can see someone prowling on the other side of the upper floor._

"What's up, Kevin?" Leon was the first to see Kevin before he crouched next to him.

"Spotted an enemy on the other side of the room." Kevin pointed to the presence of the Zealot who was still prowling on a hallway corridor that led to the other door.

"You think there's more?"

Kevin nodded.

"We better get ready then."

* * *

><p>Command Center, Field Operations Support Division, DSO Headquarters, somewhere in Virginia, United States of America<p>

* * *

><p>Hunnigan was busy getting updates from FOS staff in regards to the jamming zone Los Illuminados had installed. There has been only little news since they lost contact with Leon and Kevin in Spain, which was turning desperate.<p>

_If we can't gain any good news, the Army or the Navy might step in and get their men on the ground, even without authorization from Senior Agent Benford himself._

"Hey, Hunnigan!"

The woman turned to see Bruce enter the FOS' command center with a folder in hand.

"Ah, Bruce." Hunnigan adjusted her glasses when she greeted the bearded DSO agent. "Is there an update on the files seized from the recent raid on CIHL?"

"I think so." Bruce handed her the folder. "The guys went over the files and they're suggesting some good intel that we can use."

"Like what for example?"

"Well aside from the files that confirms that CIHL has a hand in installing the jamming zone, it also shows some notes on a monster they're creating."

This revelation made Hunnigan more curious on the new intel they acquired.

"Is there further information on this?"

"I'm not sure. They're double checking, but initial assessments says that the files on the said monster aren't present."

Hunnigan sighed after she heard the answer from Bruce.

_At least we're getting somewhat somewhere._

* * *

><p>Art Gallery, Mansion, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Kevin and Jill went to set up their sniper rifles after they flipped the attached bipods down in order to be used while they were prone. Leon and Jean got their shotguns ready for close quarters.<p>

"Hold up a second." Jill got the bipod of her Heckler & Koch SL8-4 steady on the floor. She then peered through the Leupold riflescope. "I can see multiple hostiles."

"How many?" Kevin asked when he got the bipod of his Steyr SSG P IV already set up.

"I count four. Two of them in red hoods and two more in black hoods and masks that resemble the ones used by the KKK." Jill made sure that the adjustments on her riflescope were still okay. "They're all armed with flails."

"Okay." Kevin nodded when he peered through the SSG P IV's mounted riflescope.

Leon knelt down next to the snipers and used the binoculars to scout the area in order to act as the spotter. "Okay. Get ready to fire."

Kevin concentrated on the Zealot walking near the door on the other side of the room while Jill took aim at the three Zealots at the lower floor.

"Now."

Kevin took the first shot at the Zealot walking around on the upper hallway corridor near the door, firing a subsonic 7.62 NATO bullet at his chest. This forced the Zealot to slam his back against the wall.

_Perfect. _Kevin quickly pulled the bolt back to eject a spent cartridge before he pushed it back to the sniper rifle to load up on another subsonic 7.62 NATO bullet. He pulled the trigger after he got the weapon aimed at his forehead.

"Good kill, good kill." Leon complimented his partner's shooting skills after he saw the Zealot's head explode.

"Looks like we've got the neighborhood's attention." Jill sarcastically remarked when she scoped the red Zealots pointing to their sniper position.

"You have the shot?" Leon asked the ex-STARS officer if she could snipe the red Zealots, taking to consideration the angle and position of Jill that she could have a hard time in shooting her sniper rifle.

"I can take it, Leon." Jill made sure the buttstock was very close to her right shoulder before she pulled the trigger, scoring a headshot on one of the red Zealots.

"Nice one, Jill." Kevin complimented Jill's shooting when he helped out by firing the next shot at the downed red Zealot when he went down onto the floor, back first. "I'll take the next shot." The brown-haired man ensured that his shot went through the downed Zealot's left temple, which killed him for good after his head exploded.

"Good kill there, Kevin." Leon observed the situation while he motioned to the others to wait until Kevin and Jill could clear the area of all present enemies.

"Got another one." Jill fired the SL8-4 again at the second red Zealot, hitting him at the chest. She saw that he took a few steps backward. She then fired again at his forehead so that he can go down.

"I'll take care of the other cultist there." Kevin worked the bolt to extract the spent cartridge and back to load up a fresh bullet. He opened fire at the black Zealot and struck him on the left shoulder. He worked the bolt backward and forward again before he fired again to hit the Zealot on the head.

"That's two good ones." Leon said when he observed the second red and black Zealots killed off by another shot to their heads once again. "All right. Good kills, good kills."

"I shall go forward and scout ahead." While Sho dashed down to the lower floor and pulled the crank, Jill and Kevin focused their attention on the now rising footbridge. The Ninja Commando took advantage of this by executing a double jump. He landed on top of the footbridge.

"I got incoming from the other side of the room!" Leon shouted, which made Sho retreat temporarily as Zealots with flails and spiked wooden shields stormed the room to hunt down their targets and eliminate them for their master.

"Up there!" Hiryu shouted when he pointed to the overhead lamp.

"I got this one!" Jill took aim at the overhead lamp and fired a 5.56 NATO bullet, which shattered the lamp and dumped flammable liquid on them.

"DAN!" Hiryu gestured to his fellow SHADOW agent to link up with him. The masked agent had just shouldered his Heckler & Koch G36C and took aim with the Bundeswehr-issued reflex sight at two Zealots since they stormed the room and were now coming near the footbridge.

"OKAY! GO!" Dan shouted to his comrade, being the first to open fire at the Zealots. Hiryu joined up and they gunned them down after they expended a magazine's worth of bullets. They both did quick reloads and proceeded to lay waste to the downed Zealots until they shouted and cringed in pain before their bodies dissolved.

"We'll secure the area." Leon said when he kept his binoculars and got his M3 ready.

"We can make this quick." Kevin told his partner when he gestured to Sho, Fujino and Yu to follow him. They crossed the footbridge and turned to the left, heading towards the other side of the art gallery, which included a glass display case.

* * *

><p>"Here we are."<p>

Kevin said when he led Sho, Fujino and Yu to a small flight of steps down, only for them to encounter resistance when a crossbow bolt with a burning arrowhead came very close to killing Kevin.

"Hold it." Kevin extended his right arm out to show the other three that someone is still out there.

"What kind of trouble?" Yu asked when he got his G3A3 ready.

"Someone with an itch to fire a crossbow."

"Allow me then, agent Ryman." Fujino said before she started to concentrate on her spiritual energy, which made the crossbow-wielding Zealot scream and gurgle in pain when his body began to twist itself... in different places where they can't be described or someone might vomit.

"I'm... starting to feel quite sorry for the cultist that tried to attack us with a crossbow." Kevin said when he knelt down and unslung his SSG P IV.

"Is the coast clear?" Sho asked when he drew out Lightning Light.

"Yes." Fujino replied. "I believe so. I don't think he'll try and attack us again."

"I'll stay here and provide covering fire." Kevin said when he checked the bolt to make sure the sniper rifle was loaded. "Fujino, you can go with Sho to secure the area."

"Yeah, yeah." Yu sighed when he shouldered his G3A3. "I'll stay here and protect the sniper in case he gets attacked."

Sho took the lead in getting near the glass case, taking out the Zealot with the flail and spiked wooden shield by stabbing it at the left temple with Lightning Light after he sidestepped to avoid being hit by the weapon.

Fujino armed herself with the Karambit she got from her O-Watch and used it to smash the glass on the display case. She then secured a box of shotgun shells, 9mm bullets, 7.62 NATO bullets, an incendiary grenade and a flashbang.

"I can see someone up there!" Yu aimed the iron sights of his G3A3 when he spotted a Zealot slowly walking towards the staircase. The Japanese Spriggan agent took aim at the Zealot's chest and fired at his chest.

The Zealot was struck by the bullet several times, feeling very weak in the assault. Fujino saw it and charged at the Zealot. The Japanese SHADOW agent subsequently struck the Zealot at the head with the Karambit blade.

* * *

><p>Unknown Control Room<p>

* * *

><p>Wesker went over the details with the Bee Number One plan that he got from Emoto a few months ago before his assassination at the hands of the Center's SHADOW force.<p>

"I didn't realize that the National Police Agency asked Emoto to devise such a plan." The ex-Umbrella researcher and STARS officer murmured when he stared at the screen in front of him. "It's only a shame that I don't know if Emoto had such plans for Bee Number Two already written up before he went underground."

**"Wesker." **Wesker greeted Ada, whose face appeared on the screen. **"I didn't expect to see you again after a while."**

**"There's an additional task that I want you to do after things are done in Spain."** Wesker told Ada calmly.

Ada raised an eyebrow, a bit curious. **"And just what kind of task do you want me to do, Wesker?"**

**"It's quite simple, Ada. I need you to look and see if you can retrieve any data from Emoto's possessions regarding any Bee Number files he may have drawn up, but didn't have the time to type it up on a computer."  
><strong>

**"I thought Emoto only had two files."**

**"True, but I seemed to remember a conversation with him before he was killed."**

* * *

><p><em>"Before we go, there's something that I need to tell you."<em>

_"And what is this about, Emoto?"_

_"I previously made drafts on other Bee Number assault plans when I was still with the Tokyo Metropolitan Police. Before I disappeared to go underground, I carefully hid the completed draft so that public security wouldn't be able to find it."_

_"I see. May I ask where have you stashed these plans of yours?"_

_"That answer is quite easy to answer, Wesker..."_

* * *

><p><strong>"I got it." <strong>Ada sighed after she heard Wesker tell her about the conversation between him and Emoto. **"I'll see what I can do after the job in Spain is completed."**

**"I'm glad to see that you're not resisting my orders."** Wesker grinned when he heard Ada reply.

**"But seriously, couldn't you give me an easier job to do, Wesker?"**

**"My dear, this kind of problem comes with the territory."**

**"Right... And you're just saying that because you're sitting there in your little command center."**

* * *

><p>Art Gallery, Mansion, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Fujino had just killed off the last Zealot when she caught sight of a door that was literally locked up with a huge padlock.. She used her bending powers to weaken the lock before she destroyed it with one slash from her Karambit.<p>

"All clear." Kevin saw through his riflescope that the corpses of the Zealots began to dissolve since they were already dead. "They're dead."

"Right." Kevin and Yu retraced their steps back to meet up with Leon while Fujino and Sho went through the unlocked door with the former kicking it open. On the way back, the latter stopped back to pick up a total of 4800 pesetas, a Velvet Blue and the RPG-7 from the shattered display case.

_This may prove useful to us later on._

* * *

><p>Leon greeted Kevin and the others when they made it back. "I see that you guys found an interesting weapon."<p>

"Indeed, Leon-san." Sho showed off the RPG-7. "We found this by a display case in the gallery."

"Mind you, the paintings are quite interesting for the master of this castle." Yu commented when he got the RPG-7 from Sho. "The castle's gallery has Raphael's School of Athens for crying out loud."

"So our host is sophisticated in the arts?" Cammy suggested. "I guess that would make sense."

Yu checked out the RPG-7 he got from the ninja, including the warhead already attached.

"Well, Yu?" Hiryu asked Yu when he looked at the mounted rocket.

"Definitely Russian-made. I'll go and carry this."

"Guess we need to move now."

The teams moved in towards the door by crossing the footbridge, being careful so as not to fall over. They eventually got the door open, which was not locked and went inside to leave the art gallery.

* * *

><p>Staircase LandingHallway, Mansion, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain

* * *

><p>"Looks like we're safe." Martin murmured when Sho began to dash around and smash the vases to pick up a Spinel and some more .45 ACP bullets for Kevin. The teams walked a short flight of stairs up to a hallway.<p>

"Welcome, strangahs!" The merchant greeted his customers. He poked his head out of the makeshift stall that he had set up in the hallway.

"I'm not going to even ask how he got here." Diana sighed in confusion. "He just might beat Sho's speed if we see him again later on."

"Lampshading this now huh Di?" Martin asked his stepsibling.

"Greetings." Tea calmly walked to the merchant and placed the Spinel and the Velvet Blue down on the makeshift marble counter. "I believe that we can sell this to you for a good price."

"Ah... yes indeed." The merchant picked up the Velvet Blue first and examined it. He then placed it down on the counter and picked up the Spinel. "I'll buy them at a fair price."

The hooded man collected the Velvet Blue and Spinel before he handed to Tea a total of 4500 pesetas.

"Appreciated, good sir." Tea grinned at the merchant while some of the others asked him if he can help in reloading empty assault rife magazines.

"Ready, Kevin?" Leon asked Kevin when he got his Silver Ghost ready.

"Yeah, I am." Kevin told his DSO partner. "We ought to end this."

"I'll go and check the door." Jill reached out to the doorknob.

"Door locked?" Chun-Li asked the brown-haired woman.

"No, it looks fine."

"Sorry we're a bit late." Hiryu greeted the others. "We got our empty magazines taken care of, so we're loaded up."

Jill got her Px4 Type F ready when she opened the door slowly and peeked to see what was on the other side.

"All clear." Jill turned her head around and whispered the two words to her allies.

* * *

><p>Concourse, Mansion, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>The teams had just cleared up the concourse level when they found Luis approaching them.<p>

"Hey you guys!" Luis had a grin on his face. "I just got something to..."

"LOOK OUT!" Kevin shouted when he saw someone was behind the rogue researcher. He had his sidearm at the ready.

"Wh-!" But by the time Luis turned around halfway, he was stabbed by a tentacle that pierced his chest.

"HOLY F*CK!" Dan shouldered his SG 552 at the being responsible for stabbing Luis.

"Dammit!" Leon aimed his Silver Ghost at the tentacle as well. Soon enough, Hien, Jean, Jill, Eriko aimed their weapons as well. Yu and Hiryu prepared to raise their weapons should they need to.

"AAAHHHGH!" Luis screamed in pain when the being revealed himself to the teams.

"YOU!" Yu aimed the iron sights of his G3A3 at Saddler.

"Greetings to my humble guests." Saddler said when he allowed the Plaga sample that fell from Luis' hand to land on his palm. "As you may see, I have decided to dispose of Señor Sera since he has outlived his usefulness to me."

"SADDLER!" Leon was ready to fire his sidearm at Saddler when he allowed his tentacle to withdraw from Luis' chest and deposited his dying body on the ground.

"Hmph." Saddler felt very confident with his attack against Luis as the tentacle went back under the cult leader's cloak as he made his exit. "My boy Salazar and his allies will make sure that all of you will meet the same fate as him."

"Curse you, Saddler!" Yu only fired off a few rounds from his German-made battle rifle before Jean seized the foregrip, which made him stop.

"It's no use." Jean told Yu. "Besides, he already made his disappearance."

Leon, Kevin and Jill went off to check on Luis while Hiryu, Hien and Fujino checked to see if they can still track down Saddler and get the Plaga sample.

"Stay with us, Luis." Jill told Luis when he started to cough blood.

"I'm one of the many researchers hired by Saddler and his little cult." Luis felt very weak when he spoke up. "He... he found out about what I was doing."

"Do not speak." Tea said when she knelt next to him. "You are dying from massive blood loss."

"H-here." Luis slipped a bottle of pills to Tea's gloved hand. "This should suppress the growth of the parasites. Saddler... took the sample. You guys need to get it... back."

"Will it be enough for all of us?" Leon asked.

Luis weakly nodded before he gave his last breath.

"He died helping us." Sho knelt down to close Luis' eyes. "Such sacrifice should not be made in vain."

"SHIT!" Dan punched the wall in anger hard, not being able to do anything to stop Saddler from killing off Luis.

"Hey Dan." Diana placed a comforting hand on his left shoulder. "It's not your fault. Believe me, you're not the only one who feels like this."

"The young lady is right." Sho told the Malaysian SHADOW agent. "For now, let's concentrate our efforts to locate Saddler and seize the Plaga sample from him."

"Yeah, I'd agree too." Leon spoke out next. "I think we better follow Luis' advice and take the anti-parasite growth pills as soon as we can. That way, we won't have to worry about potential fainting spells."

"Of course, we'll need to save a few for Ms. Graham when we can find her." The Delta Red operative spoke to Leon, feeling very worried that Luis' unfortunate could backfire any of their plans to escape easily.

"I'll go and search the concourse with Java." Martin told the others when he motioned to Java to go with him. "With luck, we should secure some items on the way."

Martin and Java began to explore the concourse with the latter using his caveman fists to break vases and found a Spinel, 2200 pesetas, a box of 5.56 NATO bullets and a box of .357 Magnum bullets.

On the way back, Martin motioned to Java to take the painting off the wall, which revealed gold bars worth 5000 pesetas.

A few minutes, Hiryu, Hien and Fujino managed to rendezvous back with the others.

* * *

><p>Ashley groaned when she woke up and found herself pinned on the wall, being held by steel restraints that surrounded her body and legs.<p>

_Where the heck am I?_

The First Daughter could hear voices from the upper part of the concourse, all of them very familiar to her. What pissed her off right no is that they didn't seem to notice her.

_I better get their attention._

And she got the attention of her saviors in one of the many ways possible that can attract trouble.

She yelled at the top of her lungs in order to get their full and undivided attention.

"OVERRRR HEREEE!"

Chapter 18 END

* * *

><p>PS - Another major update for my fanfic writing stuff. Well, I got a lot of excuses. Among them complications from my radiotherapy treatment and my father showing me the ropes of handling a business in the "Bamboo Network". Also includes laziness since I'm resting from writing fanfic chapters almost all the time.<p>

Also a major one is that I've been told not to return back to college and finish off the last semester to get the needed credits to be admitted again to university level so that I can get my uni BA degree. For now, I've been trying to search for alternatives like distance education, though I don't know if distance education taken from another country away from Canada can be considered, although I know that one university in BC says it's not against their policy.

Right now, I'm getting ideas of doing crossover stories of Assassin's Creed and Sakura Taisen, though I'm not sure if I should place it at the same time when ST1 (I'm not sure if the game starts by 1923) or as a AU in the Cold War era. I just hate when these story ideas pop up when I'm in the middle of something major. And since I'm wrapping this up with another major story later on, I'll probably my main universe in the fanfic world as the "Ominaeverse" 'cause it has no name. Or maybe I'll choose another one.

Yeah, suddenly I feel like doing short stories sprees for Patlabor and YUA since they're neglected nowadays, although more emphasis is on the former since a Live-Action version is going to air in Japan with a ETA of 2014. No exact month yet though. Yeah, I'll need to figure on the story ideas...

And I hope you guys enjoy the cameos who show up from Japan and in the US in the chapter, although they're not involved with our heroes. As for those who show up from America, I had to combine their name from the official Japanese credits (e.g. Ken's expy from the LAPD is credited in Japan as "Ken", not "Cain" from a fansub that I saw before years ago) with the surnames of the VAs who play the actual characters since they don't have surnames. I hope that helps in case start to pump a review and ask about the cameos.

Also, the Japanese way of addressing a police officer as a detective would either be _tantei_ or _keiji_. As far as I'm told, they're the same thing. I may change them around by mistake or fluke, so no need to worry about this thing.

For now, let me know how it is when you review. Let me know if you spot anything else like mistakes or whatnot. After this, I'll start preparations to get back on track and write up another chapter of "Peacekeepers".

And by now, we should be ending here at chapter 3-4. Now I don't know if I should make Ashley a bit of a badass that she can fend off for herself without running away all the time or get someone to accompany her. Probably Sho since he's a ninja badass.

* * *

><p>Pesetas in Total = 247,700<p> 


	19. Setback

Resident Evil/Biohazard: Hostage Rescue

Rating: T

NOTE:

All characters of Resident Evil/Captain Commando/Street Fighter are under the copyright of Capcom. All characters of Martin Mystery are under the copyright of Marathon. All characters of Kara no Kyokai are under the copyright of TYPE-MOON. All characters of Spriggan are under the copyright of Hiroshi Takashige and Ryoji Minagawa. All characters of Jiraishin are under the copyright of Tsutomu Takahashi. The appearance of Kenneth "Kenny" Feng is under noctorro's jurisdiction. All others are under my jurisdiction.

Summary:

With the death of Luis Sera, the group has an unfortunate setback in securing details on the Plaga sample that seized by Saddler. How much of a setback will the group have in their journey to save themselves before they are turned permanently? Can Ashley find a way out of her current predicament after being seized once more? Stay tune to this chapter to find out.

Chapter 19: Setback

* * *

><p>MOM's Office, The Center<p>

* * *

><p>MOM was still in her office, not keeping track of how many days she stayed in the Center's HQ in order to be updated of the agents' progress in finding the First Daughter and getting the heck out of there before the plaga parasite overwhelms them to the point that they are under the cult's complete control.<p>

"MOM." Billy came to her office and handed her an electronic tablet. "Got another update from SID. They still got an eye on the mole, but they think he's avoiding contact with Wesker. He probably got word of the failed raid."

"I understand, Billy. Thanks for the update."

"I think I may be stepping over my bounds as your personal assistant," Billy tried to speak to MOM after being silent for a few seconds. "but I think you should try and get some sleep, MOM. There's no way that you can oversee the operation if you don't get enough rest."

The head of the Center silently replied on the alien's advice.

_He does have a point. How long has it been since I had decent rest when I wasn't able to make contact with Martin or with the SHADOW agents? _

"You may have a point, Billy." MOM sighed and massaged her nose. "I lost count on how much time I had to get some rest ever since Martin and the others went offline."

"Don't worry, MOM. I can take care of things around here while you're gone."

"All right." MOM nodded. "How are things with the DSO?"

"None that I have. Last I heard, they were interrogating the Secret Service mole for some answers."

* * *

><p>Interrogation Room #1, DSO Headquarters, somewhere in Virginia, United States of America<p>

* * *

><p>"One more time, Agent Lawrence!" Bruce stomped on the floor with his right foot hard, next to the chair where the rogue Secret Service agent was cuffed with his hands behind it. "I want some answer and I want it now!"<p>

There was no table present. Strangely enough, there wasn't any surveillance cameras mounted inside the room.

"I already told you!" The brown-haired agent, who was now wearing a white shirt, jogging pants and blue and white sneakers, shouted back at the DSO agent. "I sold the service out on the route used by the First Daughter because I needed the money!"

_Dammit! Is the only thing he's coughing out in order to save his ass?_

"Excuse me, agent McGivern?" A DSO agent knocked on the door to the interrogation room.

"I'll be back." Bruce pointed his left index finger at the rogue agent's face. "In the meantime, I suggest that you sit still and reflect on your actions."

The DSO agent angrily left the interrogation room and slammed the door behind him.

* * *

><p>Outside Interrogation Room #1, DSO Headquarters, somewhere in Virginia, United States of America<p>

* * *

><p>"It's a good thing I found you, Bruce."<p>

Bruce turned to the side and saw that Hunnigan had shown up.

"What is it, Hunnigan?" Bruce asked the FOS analyst.

"Give me a second." Hunnigan said to him before she told the female DSO agent of East Asian origin, in black BDUs and combat boots, that she was free to go. The agent nodded and left her alone with Bruce outside the interrogation room.

"All right." Hunnigan went over her findings before she handed a folder to Bruce. "We managed to go through everything that Agent Lawrence has told us and we ran it alongside the FBI."

"Anything turned up that I should know?" Bruce asked as he read through the folder's content, which contained the bio data of Lawrence in his time with the Secret Service.

"Nothing much." Hunnigan replied while she shrugged. "Except that our agent here really gave details on the First Daughter's convoy just for the money to pay for his brother's gambling problem."

"Hmmm..."

"He got some wire transfers for two weeks prior to the attack on the First Daughter's Secret Service convoy." Hunnigan explained the details of the report. "At the time, he was suppose to be included with the team."

"So did he feign sickness at the last minute?"

"Yes, he did. That was the only way he could avoid duty without being detected."

"I never thought that he had to go down the dark side just to help his brother."

"It seems that he'd do anything just to help his brother overcome his addiction."

Bruce began to read the reports of bank wire transfers made to Lawrence's bank account. He noted that most of the money transferred, with a minimum amount of $20,000 USD, were made from Switzerland.

"Looks like the bank transfers were made from Geneva." The blonde DSO agent commented after he finished reading the reports. "At this point, we may need to get the assistance of the Geneva Police and the Federal Office of Police."

"I better tell Senior Agent Benford about this development." Hunnigan said after she got the folder back from Bruce.

"You better do that, Hunnigan." Bruce insisted. "I don't know how much longer we're going to get involved with that stupid cult."

"Right." Hunnigan nodded.

"So what do we do with our rogue agent?" Bruce asked her.

"FBI says we keep him her for now." Hunnigan replied. "Director doesn't want to risk the possibilty that someone in the bureau might be paid off or coerced to help break the man out of custody."

"Roger that."

* * *

><p>Concourse, Mansion, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"There she is!"<p>

Leon pointed out Ashley to the others. From the upper part of the concourse, they can see Ashley pinned down by the wall.

"She's got some restraints on her." Diana told the others. "How do we get her out?"

Kevin shouldered the Steyr SSG P IV and crouched down. "I can shoot the metal restraints off her. Someone better her that she needs to not move while I do it."

"I have a better idea." Sho said before he executed a jump down to the lower level of the concourse.

"M-Mr. Ginzu!" Ashley was surprised to see the ninja commando.

"Do not move, Ashley-san." The ninja was getting close to her in less than a minute, thanks to his ninja run. He immediately drew out Lightning Light from the saya and executed two vertical slashes. The metal restraints were hacked down in pieces in no time.

"T-thanks." Ashley thanked the ninja for saving her after she got free.

"We are, as you English speakers would say, not out of the woods yet." Sho twirled Lightning Light with his hands and pointed the kissaki at the black hood-wearing monks as they entered the lower concourse via sliding door.

"Keep an eye on my six!" Kevin said as he steadied his aim with his sniper rifle.

"Get behind me." Sho told Ashley, using his left hand to gently move Ashley towards his rear. "I'll try to get them out of our way."

Ashley nodded, following his instructions.

"I count four!" Kevin said. "Jill, some assistance."

"Got it." Jill crouched down near Kevin and shouldered her Heckler & Koch SL8-4.

"Remember. I take the left side and you take the right in case them cultists try to make a sprint for Ashley."

The others took combat positions and guarded their rear in case of a sneak attack.

"Now!" Kevin shouted when he and Jill took aim to shoot one monk each after they lined up with their scopes for a headshot to take down for good.

Sho was prepared for the two monks when they sprinted towards Ashley. "Keep your head down, young lady."

Ashley did as told when she squatted and covered her head with her hands. "Like this?"

"You are doing a good job." Sho nodded before he faced the incoming monks. "Just keep your head down. You will be fine."

* * *

><p>MOM's Office, The Center<p>

* * *

><p>With MOM taking some time off to get some rest, Billy was placed in charge of the operation in trying to secure contact with their agents. SID was still working with R&amp;D in trying to find a way to break through the jamming.<p>

"The Americans are doing the same thing." Billy murmured as he reviewed the SID report. "But since even the DSO can't breach it, it means that CIHL was able to use highly sophisticated alien-based technology to block their military satellites from making contact with their agents."

Billy decided to take leave of MOM's officer and head to the Center's R&D office to see if they have something that can take out CIHL's anti-jamming measures.

"I hope we have something in R&D before it's too late."

* * *

><p>Concourse, Mansion, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"ORYYYAAAAH!"<p>

Sho shouted with all of his strength, his kiai, as a means of projection one's inner powers in Eastern-based martial arts. For the ninja's case, it was his means of confidence when he decapitated the two monks when they were at arm's length.

"Stay put." Sho told Ashley to stay at her place when Sho dashed to the door. He began to check the wooden door nearby and noted that it was locked.

_Ku-so! Can't get it to open. _The ninja used a kick to see if it can break open. _It can't be. Not even my kicks can break this open. Just how do they keep this from breaking apart?  
><em>

"Incoming! We got more!" Kevin shouted when he saw a red monk enter the lower concourse with a few more monks. The only difference is that one or two of them had crossbow with lit bolts.

"SMOKE BOMB!" Sho shouted as he executed his smoke bomb. When the gray smoke got near the black monks, they suddenly exploded. Most of the monks were taken out by the attack, except for the two monks that were armed with the crossbows.

"Gotcha..." Kevin smirked after he shot one of them on the head.

"They're not even trying to take cover, so that's an advantage for us." Jill observed the monks after she took out the other one with a well-placed headshot.

The skull facemask-wearing red monk continued his advance towards Ashley at a slow, menacing pace.

"I got this!" Jill fired at his left leg. This shot forced the monk to kneel.

Seeing the monk kneel, Sho dashed in and prepared Lightning Light to thrust the kissaki at the chest.

"Ngh..." The monk groaned in slight pain, using his bare hands to grip the ninjato's Hi and Mune in order to remove the kissaki. With force if the monk had to do so.

"Persistent, are we?" Sho grinned when he saw the monk struggle to remove the ninjato's kissaki. The ninja saw his hands bleed after he firmly gripped onto the Hi and Mune. "Allow me to help you there..."

Sho gripped the ninjato's tsuka tightly before he used it to hack off the red monk's right arm.

"NGGGHAHHAH!" The red monk screamed in pain after his right arm was forcefully removed from his body. The strange thing the team was that his yells sounded like loud moaning. Very, very loud moaning.

"Die!" Sho executed a diagonal slash with Lightning Light once more, this time to slice off the red monk's head and neck from the body. After he confirmed that his body has dissolved, just like the other monks, he dashed to the spot where he fell in order to secure a doorkey.

Ashley felt like she wanted to barf out whatever she had in her stomach after Sho killed him.

"I don't think she'll be fine at this rate." Leon murmured after he saw Ashley vomit.

"So can your master help Ashley get back on our location?" Cammy asked the SHADOW agents. "Since he did jump from the equivalent of more than two stories at least."

Sho shook his head. "I'm afraid my previous master did not teach me any ninjitsu skills that would allow me to throw Ashley-san to the upper part of this place."

"Master! What are you going to do to get out of there?!" Dan asked Sho, clearly worried for the ex-instructor.

"I'm afraid we need to meet up with the rest of you through the old-fashioned way!" Sho replied as he checked on Ashley to see if she was alright.

"I'm... I'm alright." Ashley reassured the ninja when the latter helped her stand up properly. "I... I never thought I'd barf aside from when I'm super sick."

"We shall find a way back!" Sho told the others as he led Ashley back to the door. "Stay put!"

"Y-yes master!" Dan and Hiryu both replied in unison.

Sho walked in advance to make sure the path is clear. Once he came across the door, he took the doorkey and placed it in the keyhole.

Ashley walked a bit before she sprinted to catch up with him. A few seconds later, the ninja was able to unlock the door.

"So the only thing we can do is to just wait?" Kevin said out loud as Sho and Ashley got through the door.

"I guess so, Kevin-san." Fujino replied before she shrugged her shoulders.

* * *

><p>Library, Mansion, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Sho was the first to enter the library, followed by the First Daughter. The former looked around to see if the area is clear. He motioned via hand gesture to Ashley to stay put.<p>

"W-what's wrong?" Ashley asked Sho when he gestured to her to stop first.

"We have trouble up ahead." Sho whispered to her when he used his Ninja Eyes. He sighted one monk just standing still on the other side of the room.

"How do we deal with it?"

Sho was silent for a few seconds before he asked her. "Have you been trained in any kind of martial arts?"

Ashley pondered on his question very carefully.

_I remember that the Secret Service had some instructors who taught me some krav maga for starters... But I didn't have time to concentrate on it fully due to college. Is it best to tell him? I... I guess I may have no choice._

"I do. My father had arranged for an instructor to teach me some martial arts for self-defense purposes." The blonde girl spoke to Sho before she sighed. "Though I don't know if it's enough to make our way out of here."

The ninja placed a hand on her left shoulder. "There is no such thing as too little of something that you've learned." He tried to reassure her for her to be confident. "Remember the training that you had. It may be able to help me even out the odds against the cultists here."

Ashley slowly nodded before she answered. "I-I understand."

"Very well then." Sho was satisfied with the answer he got. "For now, follow me. I shall go and clear the way. Be sure to cover my back."

"Okay."

Sho gripped Lightning Light tightly on the tsuka as he slowly advanced. He walked slowly towards the monk, who had his back facing him. Sho's footsteps did not make even a single noise.

Ashley saw that he was silent with his movement. With that, she emulated his movement to ensure that she was not making any kind of noise with her own footsteps.

_Dammit._

The First Daughter noted that a slight step with her boots made some audible noise. But it was very low that the monk wasn't aware of their presence in the library.

_All right. He doesn't know where here. One, two... And now!_

With a quick step and dash, Sho thrusted the ninjato's kissaki towards the back of the monk's head as he executed the Iaizuki thrust.

After he withdrew the kissaki from the head, the monk went down on his knees before he collapsed onto the ground. His body dissolved until it was not physically there.

* * *

><p>Command Center, Field Operations Support Division, DSO Headquarters, somewhere in Virginia, United States of America<p>

* * *

><p>Hunnigan was now in the FOS, this time making contact with various law enforcement agencies, both domestic and overseas, to see if they had other law enforcement personnel sent to Spain for the same reason Leon and Kevin are ordered to go there.<p>

"All right, thanks." Hunnigan thanked a FOS analyst when she received an update that there was a response from the Spanish Guardia Civil. From what she was told, the GC did send a couple of guardia civil officers to assist Leon, Kevin and a few others before they lost contact with them. The Spanish Interior Ministry privately mentioned to the DSO via telephone conference that he feared the officers were killed by Los Illuminados.

"Looks like Delta Red, INTERPOL and the Japanese National Police Agency are in on this operation with their own personnel." The woman said as she read through the report, which consisted of replies made from the three agencies to the DSO. "And they want to keep their involvement in Spain non-existent with a press blackout like what the DSO and Secret Service advised President Graham on after the First Daughter was kidnapped."

Hunnigan could only wonder if they can make an update on securing contact with Leon and Kevin.

"It's only bad enough that we know little of CIHL." Hunnigan continued to read up on the report, placed inside a folder, with some comments on CIHL. "But the only thing that we know is that CIHL is an anti-paranormal consultant group that does actual anti-paranormal operations on the side."

She frowned and closed the folder. "It looks like we've been had. Whatever the CIHL is doing, they're that good."

* * *

><p>Library, Mansion, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"Be on your guard." Sho warned Ashley after he took care of the monk.<p>

"Okay." Ashley answered.

Sho checked the room to see how they can progress. The ninja saw a way out, except that it was sealed off with a metallic Portcullis. There was a crank mounted on the wall next to it.

"Can you head over there?" Sho pointed to Ashley the crank next to the Portcullis. "It seems to be the only mechanism used to open it."

"Got it." Ashley nodded as she sprinted towards the crank. She gripped the handle and moved her hands as fast as she to make the Portcullis go up.

Sho kept an eye out for her as the Portcullis slowly moved upward. He didn't show it, but he was very nervous and wondered if Los Illuminados has an ambush or two prepared for them after he freed her a while ago.

_I doubt the enemy will give us room to spare and relax._

The two waited to see if anyone has showed up. Sho made use of his Ninja Eyes to scope out the room for any signs of hostile monks.

"Anything?" Ashley asked after she finished her work with the crank.

"No hostile sighted." Sho shook his head. "It's best if we can take whatever is useful for us, but be quick."

After the blonde girl nodded, she went to search around the room while Sho stood guard. She acquired a Spinel, a Yellow and Green Herb and 1200 pesetas taken from where the monk's corpse was.

"I shall hold onto the items." Sho said after Ashley told him that she got the items from the first room they were in. "Except for the money, hold onto everything else."

"Do you even have space in your clothes to hold onto the money?"

"That's a trade secret for someone who's trained in Bushinryuu ninjitsu."

Sho looked around the other room after the Portcullis was opened up. He slowly stepped inside to search for anyone inside. Ashley followed him slowly, letting him do the fighting.

Until a monk waited in ambush on the side to grab Ashley from the side.

"LET ME GO!" The girl yelled after she was grabbed from the shoulders.

_My Ninja Eyes didn't detect his location. He must've decided to hide and wait to ambush us after we opened the only pathway to other side of the library. _Sho was now gripping with the decision on how to attack the monk without hurting Ashley in the process.

"HAH!" Ashley violently kicked the monk's right leg hard with her boot. This made the monk remove his grip from her shoulders. The First Daughter followed this up by executing a strong knee attack onto the monk's ribs. A shoulder tackle was then used to push him away from her.

"Take that!" yelled Ashley after she executed the final attack.

"ORYA!" Sho shouted after Ashley shoved the monk away, which allowed him to slash his chest. This was followed by an Iaizuki, which struck the monk at his forehead.

The monk didn't groan or say anything else. When Sho kicked the monk away to remove the kissaki, the latter's body began to slowly dissolve until nothing was left.

"Are you alright?" Sho asked Ashley after he killed the monk.

"I'm okay." Ashley replied and patted her shoulders where the monk had previously grabbed her. "I just remembered something from my Krav Maga classes on what to do if someone tried to grab you in the shoulders in a hostile manner."

"Like I said, there is no such thing as something too little to be useful."

"Thanks for the advice. I was really scared when the cultist tried to ambush me, but your advice was all that I needed to break out of it."

"Despite the ambush," Sho looked around and saw that the room was clear of hostiles. "it seems that you may be a brave woman at heart. You just never had the opportunity to prove it."

He walked towards a closet and obtained 2500 pesetas from it. He then pocketed the money into his Shinobi shozoku.

Ashley opened one of the drawers from a night table and found a Spinel. She decided to take it, knowing that Leon and the others may find it useful.

Sho examined another portcullis after Ashley pocketed the Spinel. This time, he examined it to see how it would open up.

_It appears that it opens from the side instead of the top. No wait, there's another one that opens from the top. Clearly the master of the house is intelligent enough to make this a security features in the mansion in case of enemy intrusion.  
><em>

"Ashley-san." Sho called for the girl's attention after he stored his ninjato back in the saya. "There are two cranks present here. They both open one portcullis each as a security measure for this room in the library."

"Do we work on the cranks at once, Mr. Ginzu?" Ashley asked him after she stopped in front of the right crank.

Sho nodded. "We should do that. That way, we can get out of here faster."

After Sho went for the left crank, he gripped the handle in his hands as tight as possible. Ashley waited for him to get a good grip on it before she did the same.

"On the count of three." The ninja instructed. "One, two... And three."

Sho and Ashley turned the crank handle together. Both of them moved at a fast pace to make the two portcullises open so that time would not be wasted to open up one after the other.

The dual portcullises were eventually opened after they turned the cranks for at least five minutes thanks to their fast movements.

"If you wish to take a break, then it is fine." Sho advised Ashley, who appeared to be very tired from handling the crank handle. "I shall scout ahead to see how we can proceed out of this area. In the meantime, hand me anything that you have. I'll hold onto them."

"But you don't have any pockets in your ninja suit." Ashley protested, seeing that his Shinobi shozoku doesn't have any pockets.

"How I keep the items with me is a trade secret, Ashley-san."

* * *

><p>Concourse, Mansion, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Diana saw the SHADOW agents near Luis' corpse as they began to examine his clothes while the others waited for Sho to returns safely with the First Daughter.<p>

_I wonder if the fact that we're not eating or drinking anything is because of the parasite in our bodies. _The Canadian Center agent thought to herself. _If that's the case, it should save us some time from getting some food or water along the way..._

"What are you guys doing?" Diana asked her colleagues, puzzled with what they're still trying to do. "I don't know if we can get some clues with Mr. Sera despite the intervention of the bad guys here."

"Despite that fact," Dan reminded Diana. "we're trying to look for more clues with how the man here had secured the plaga sample from the cult. It seems that Saddler knew that he was going to flip to us."

Diana just nodded anyway.

Fujino and Hiryu were seen next to the corpse, the former had used her O-Watch to activate Search Mode. She then used the holographic keyboard that appeared on her left wrist to type **LUIS SERA **on the search bar, seen on a holographic screen, to examine Center archives for any information about the man.

Hiryu checked the pockets on his pants and his shirt for any clues that may be useful in order to shed light on their current situation.

"Found something?" Martin went up to see the SHADOWs when he saw that they started to examine Luis' corpse.

"Nothing much." Hiryu replied to Martin while he checked the pants pockets. "I'm afraid we'll be running into a dead end soon."

"How are the others doing?" Dan asked Martin.

The blonde-haired agent shrugged. "Dunno, man. Most of them are just waiting for Ashley to rendezvous with us when Sho brings her back."

"In other words, they're bored?"

Martin nodded.

"It figures." Dan said when he heard Hiryu's rhetorical question. "With him dead, we're having no choice but to search every nook and corner of the places we haven't explored in the castle." The Malaysian SHADOW sighed and stared at the corpse. "It's a shame though. He could've seen a good source of information for getting out of this place."

"Call for Leon and Kevin." Hiryu looked at the database results. "We need to tell them that we got something on the man."

* * *

><p>T-Shaped Junction, outside Library, Mansion, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>After Sho checked the T-shaped junction from outside the library, he called for Ashley to follow him.<p>

"Follow me. I found something." The ninja called for Ashley.

Ashley nodded and walked until she saw that the short hallway diverged into two directions. One going to the left has a blue door, which... led somewhere. The other one goes into a much shorter hallway with a door at the end.

_Two doors? _The First Daughter looked at the left door before she looked at the corridor and partially saw a door handle. She then stepped a bit to the shorter hallway to see the door. _And how do we know which door to open first?_

"Mr. Ginzu," Ashley went to ask the ninja. "which door should we go to?"

Sho inhaled and exhaled his breath as he reflected on Ashley's question. _A very good question, indeed. The blue door may have some significance, such as the way back to the others. But I think the other door is worth checking out at least to make sure there aren't any more enemies to confront in this part of the castle._

"A good question." Sho replied as he looked at the shorter hallway where Ashley found the door. "We need to check all loose ends to ensure that we're safe."

"You mean..." Ashley felt that she didn't like where the conversation was going.

Sho nodded. "You could stay here, but I'm not sure if you can defend yourself against multiple hostiles." The ninja looked at her in the face. "Which means I should stay here. I shall cover your back while you check the door next to me."

"A-alright." Ashley slowly nodded, knowing the risk that she must do to cover all loose ends. "I'll go and check what's beyond that door."

"I am confident that you can survive this one." Sho reassured Ashley to boost her confidence. "You did defend yourself against the monk who grabbed you a while ago. After all, I did not expect the First Daughter to be trained in self-defense at all."

The girl felt happy that a known vigilante was sincerely complimenting her self-defense skills. However, she also knew that she needed to improve her self-defense skills due to the possibility of being attacked again after the Spain fisaco was over.

"Thank you." Ashley felt like crying tears after hearing Sho's words.

"Go ahead, Ashley-san." Sho decided to not waste time and instead, direct her to the blue door next to him. "I shall hold this spot and secure it until you get back."

"I'll be back, Mr. Ginzu." Ashley went to the blue door and opened to get inside.

Sho was confused on why Ashley called her Ginzu when his actual name is Sho.

_I really need to figure out a way to make the public realize that Ginzu is not my name when I'm with the Commandos. It's suppose to be Sho. Those damn Westerners and their ninja obsessions. I wonder where they got the basis to pull out that silly name?  
><em>

After he saw Ashley off to investigate the room beyond the door, Sho stood vigilant over the T-shaped junction. He would wait and secure this area while Ashley would check ahead to see if there's anything would looking into.

For the meantime, the ninja secured the nearby Red Herb placed on top of a cabinet.

* * *

><p>Concourse, Mansion, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"It appears we got information on Luis Sera himself on our database."<p>

Dan told the two DSO agents after he called for their attention.

"What about Luis that we need to know about?" Leon asked Dan, curious to know what information they have from the Center.

"For one thing," Dan looked at his partner before he looked back at Leon. "did he say anything to you that was... I don't know, maybe fishy?"

"Well he did say he's from the police." Leon scratched his head as he recalled his conversation with Luis when they got tied up together. "I didn't ask him for any sign of identification that could prove that he's a police officer because... well we were in a situation that I didn't have time to ask about it."

"Normally, that would have perhaps gotten you into some bit of trouble there, partner." Kevin patted Leon's right shoulder.

"Thanks, Kevin." Leon rolled his eyes, being sure that his DSO partner and ex-RPD colleague was being sarcastic about his sympathies.

"Here it is." Dan pointed to the two agents the profile on Luis Sera. "Our database doesn't mention anything about being a police officer at all."

"Seems that he lied just to avoid being caught, considering that he had the sample taken from the cult." Kevin read Luis' biodata on the holographic screen to look for anything that stands out.

Leon then joined in to read his biodata.

"There we go." Kevin found the information he was looking for. He pointed to the information on his early life on the screen with his left index finger.

"According to this," Leon browsed over the screen to read up on the man's early life. "he left the village at an early life in order to pursue a career in the city."

"Most likely Madrid." Hiryu suggested. "The Center has no further information on what he did prior to coming back to his hometown, except that we found some pictures of him on his graduation day from the Autonomous University of Madrid."

Dan used his hands to blow up an image from Luis' database entry to show Leon and Kevin his graduation picture.

"Here. We got a picture of him receiving his degree from the Faculty of Sciences."

"He doesn't look very different from the day we encountered him." Leon studied the graduation photo and noted that he had short hair and a well-shaved face with his university convocation dress on.

"It looked like that it was a very happy day for him." Kevin agreed with Leon's thoughts. "But I'm curious to know what made Luis decided to drop a promising career in the sciences and work for Saddler?"

Fujino examined the screen and browsed through it to confirm or deny any information that can help answer Kevin's question.

"I have found the required information, Kevin-san." The Reien Girls Academy student showed Kevin a paragraph in Luis' entry that explains his return to the countryside. "It said that he dropped out of Madrid when Saddler recruited him via an informant. It turns out that said informant was one of his old classmates in his university days."

"It also says that he showed signs of resentment with Saddler and his cult after he found out what he wanted his scientific background for." Leon found the needed information on Luis' defection from Los Illuminados. "Looks like they did initial tests on the village's children when the cult found dormant plaga spores."

"Looks like it ends there." Leon said after the holographic screen was closed. "Do you guys know if he made any contacts from outside the cult?"

Dan, Fujino and Hiryu just stared at each other after they heard Leon's question.

"I'm sorry." Dan shrugged his shoulders. "The Center didn't have any further information on what he did after he came back to his hometown. Our intelligence suggests that he kept a low profile so that Saddler won't be suspicious of his movements."

"Anyway," Kevin murmured after he heard Dan out. "we can't do anything we can let Sho in the loop on information that you guys provided on Luis."

* * *

><p>Small Room, Mansion, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Ashley went inside the small room via the blue door, being unlocked. This gave her an easier time to get inside.<p>

_Now I need to secure anything that's not nailed down. I need to start from somewhere..._

After she took a few steps to the center of the room, the teenager took note of the dais in the sunken floor of the room. She tried to see if she can move it with the wooden handle, even if it's just an inch.

"Ugh..." Ashley grunted before she gave up. "Can't move it." She then examined the center of the dais. _Better note that hole in the center of that device._

She moved to the cabinet on the left side of the dais and took the note left on top of it.

_I don't understand a word of Spanish, maybe except a word or two from my classmates who can actually speak it. Please one of the guys can translate it._

Ashley folded the note carefully and held onto it with her left hand. She turned around to see a fireplace with the firebox sealed off somehow.

"A fireplace with a sealed off firebox?" Ashley murmured when she inspected the fireplace. She knelt down next to the sealed firebox to get a closer look. "That's not right at all."

With her hands placed on the grate, she pushed on it with all of her strength.

_Nothing._ Ashley realized that the more she pushed the grate, nothing happened to it. In fact, it was just getting her frustrated. _I'm not getting anywhere! Dammit!_

_I just better need to remember that later. _Ashley resumed her search of the room when she began to examine the cabinets and open any drawers that are not locked.

"What's this?" She picked up a box of pistol bullets. When she checked out the box itself, it had .45 ACP markings labeled on it.

"It's probably needed." Ashley then picked up the Spinel and the Velvet Blue before she got out of the room.

* * *

><p>T-Shaped Junction, outside Library, Mansion, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"I found these when I looked around the room with the fireplace."<p>

Ashley showed the items that she picked up to Sho, including the folded note.

"Nice work." Sho collected the items. "I assume that the note you picked up was written entirely in Spanish?"

"It is." Ashley gave the note to the ninja. "It must be of importance, but I guess we wait until we can link up with the others so that we can show them the note."

"A wise decision." Sho got the note from the First Daughter. "All we need to go is to check the other door and see what's on the other side."

Sho walked first to the direction of the shorter hallway. He motioned to Ashley to follow him. When the former got in front of the door, he gripped the door handle to check if it was locked.

He held his hand up for Ashley to wait as he checked the door.

_Looks to be clear._

Sho slowly opened the door and peaked inside, eyes only, to make his head less of a desirable target.

_Definitely clear._

Once he was done examining the interior of the storeroom, the ninja motioned to Ashley again to follow him inside.

* * *

><p>Maze Room, Mansion, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Sho and Ashley entered the deserted room, which had a maze sealed up by portcullises.<p>

"Looks like a maze." Ashley examined the room after she closed the door behind her.

Sho couldn't agree more with Ashley. Using his Ninja Eyes to scan the room, he saw multiple red portcullises that either sealed off some paths or kept some open.

"Let's start searching the storeroom by looking around here." Sho told Ashley. "We need to operate under the assumption that these portcullises can seal us away for a long period of time, which would prevent us from retreating."

Ashley did as instructed when she picked up the Green Herb. She then handed it to Sho for safekeeping.

Sho found a wooden bookshelf near the door. He peaked on the side if anything was hidden.

"Found something." The ninja pushed the bookshelf onto the side to reveal a red button-type switch hidden behind it. There was also a flashlight next to it.

"I'll take this." Ashley picked up the flashlight after Sho smacked the red button with his left palm.

One of the portcullises opened up to reveal a path.

_The right one hasn't opened up. _Sho checked around to see that the nearest portcullis did not open up. Which meant that the portcullis had opened up from the interior of the storeroom.

"This is blocking the way." Sho drew out Lightning Light and hacked the table since it blocked the only path to the maze. He then kicked the table pieces out of the way to prevent them from getting in their way.

Ashley examined the flashlight to check if it was working. To her luck, it was working. The lightbeam was very bright, indicating that it had fresh batteries inside the device.

_Another switch? _Ashley ran up to red button switch on the wall and pressed it with her left palm. She gripped the flashlight with her right hand and used it to examine the maze. _There's nobody in there. But if I learned anything while being held captive by these cultists, it's to expect the unexpected.  
><em>

Sho saw the red portcullis near the wall switch move up, opening another path in front of him. _It worked._

The two heard the first red portcullis lower itself back, sealing off a path from the maze's interior.

"Things are going to be complicated if those switches are going to open up some paths in the maze and close some of the others." Ashley stepped forward towards the open path and used her flashlight to see what was ahead.

"An elaborate maze indeed." Sho studied the maze to locate any signs of Los Illuminados cultists. "Whoever made this was very aware that one day, this place would be raided."

"Do we go in the maze together?" Ashley asked the ninja. She was wondering if her question was a good idea to entertain.

Sho stayed silent once again with his arms crossed in front of his chest. He used the quiet in the storeroom to gather his thoughts. He knew that he has to make a quick decision on whether they need to move in together or let one of them search the maze while the other stays in front of the maze entrance to secure the rear in case of an enemy attack.

"We may as well stay together in the meantime." Sho faced Ashley when he told her his answer. "It is tempting to split up and search the room to secure anything important before we get back together, but we run the risk of being overwhelmed. The cult has numbers on their side and we don't."

"But what happens if the switches forces us to get separated?"

_More pressing questions for me to consider. _Sho stayed silent again before he replied to her. "Then we have no choice but for one of us to move ahead."

Ashley simply was confused on why the ninja calmly stated that one of them should abandon the other. Her father would certainly be furious if he should find out that Sho, a member of the Commandos, would simply abandon her. There would be worldwide condemnation of her death if they were forced to be separated.

"That would have been my answer if I was paired up with someone else who shares my idea of not being dragged down in a mission." Sho said to a worried Ashley. "But since your survival is required, I will have to stick with you." The ninja sighed. "At least to make sure no cultist would ambush you."

"I understand." Ashley nodded when she heard Sho's thoughts.

"I shall go ahead." Sho moved inside the maze. "Keep an eye out for anything unusual."

"Got it." Ashley walked alongside Sho as she used the flashlight to scope out parts of the maze that are not illuminated.

When confronted with a closed path, Ashley saw the switch on the ledge in front of it. She also saw a painting mounted on top of a fireplace with a few chairs placed nearby. It was covered in cobwebs, which showed its long-term disuse. But it was not the only thing that was covered in cobwebs.

_The painting's also covered with some cobwebs. Not to mention that it's not mounted properly._

Ashley took a closer look at the fireplace when she noticed something else.

"A plaque." Ashley took a few steps closer to it while Sho kept watch. She inspected the item with a flashlight. "No wait..."

She then realized that it wasn't a plaque. But it was a tablet made out of stone.

"Can you hold this?" Ashley handed Sho the flashlight.

"What is it?" Sho got the flashlight from her.

"I found a tablet lodged onto the fireplace." Ashley carefully used her fingers to take the stone tablet. She slowly removed it so that it wouldn't fall down and break into pieces.

"Can you handle it?" Sho focused the flashlight on the tablet while Ashley continued to remove the tablet.

"Yes. It shouldn't be a problem." After a few minutes of carefully removing the tablet from the fireplace, she held it in her hands and checked it out. "There's an etch of a pentagram on it. There's also something written on it. Can't make out the words."

Ashley turned the tablet around. In doing so, she found a hole at the back.

"It might be used to insert the tablet into something." Sho inspected the back of the tablet.

"The tablet seems to be a bit heavy." Ashley commented as she felt the weight of the tablet in her hands.

Sho moved to the switch in front of the red portcullis and pressed the button to open the gray portcullis.

"We have another alternate path that we can use to get in and out of the maze." Sho saw the gray portcullis open up. He then remembered the switch that was hidden previously from plain sight by the bookshelf he pushed out of the way.

Without hesistation, he quickly pressed the switch.

Ashley turned to the side and saw the path they previously used to get in, after Sho took care of the table. The gray portcullis sealed it off while the red portcullis with the red switch opened up.

"How did you..."

"I didn't." Sho quickly answered it. "I decided to try it out."

* * *

><p>MOM's Office, The Center<p>

* * *

><p>With MOM still taking a break from non-stop work with the Center, Billy went through some files provided by the SID. He particularly got some biodata on Jack Krauser.<p>

"This man was sighted multiple times with Wesker despite his status with the American military." The alien took note of Krauser's papers when the status read that he was presumed dead after an special forces operation in South America, thanks to a helicopter crash somewhere in the United States. He also checked out surveillance photos of Krauser and Wesker taken from various parts of the globe.

Billy read a comment on the report that mentions about Leon Kennedy's non-involvement in those surveillance operations due to his "close" relationship with him at the time.

"And during that time, his partner was..." Billy leaped through the pages and saw Leon's name in it.

"Leon Kennedy." Billy read through the report. "One of the few official survivors of the outbreak in Raccoon City. Current job not disclosed, but is currently active with the Division of Security Operations."

He was now wondering if the DSO was aware of the fact that Krauser was still alive. And even with that revelation on their internal reports on the man, why did Special Agent Benford gave his consent for Leon's involvement in the rescue operation.

Billy pressed a button on his hoverchair and opened a line with SID. **"This is Billy. I need to connect with someone at SID."**

**"Just a moment, sir." **

The alien waited for someone at SID to make contact with him. Eventually...

**"This is SID, sir. Is there something from the report that you need to clarify?"**

**"Yes, I do." **Billy looked at the report on Krauser one more time before he asked, **"Does the DSO know about Krauser working with Wesker despite his status as deceased?" **

**"We asked one of our assets to check in." **The SID agent replied to Billy's query.

**"And?"**

**"He's pretty convinced that the DSO knows. But they're keeping in to themselves. Even their Agents on the rescue mission don't even know about that."**

**"Dammit."** Billy didn't like what the Center's intelligence agency is telling him. **"Okay, keep digging and reach out to any of our assets in the American intelligence community. We need to get more info on this. And ask R&D if there's a way we can get in touch with the agents on the ground."**

**"Understood."**

* * *

><p>Maze Room, Mansion, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>With a new opened up, Ashley was the first to move inside the maze. She found a tall cabinet in front of her and carefully opened it to make sure it wasn't rigged for a trap.<p>

_Phew!_

What she found was money worth 1800 pesetas. She temporarily left it there to secure the Blue Velvet left on top of another cabinet.

"You can leave it there." Sho came up from behind and saw the opened cabinet. "I'll secure anything else you got."

Ashley got the flashlight back from Sho and gave him the Velvet Blue.

"Thanks." After Ashley got the flashlight, she opened the door and used it to inspect the dark interior.

"Did I give you the stone tablet?" She asked the ninja.

Sho shook his head. "It is not with me, Ashley-san."

Ashley looked at the dark interior beyond the open door, but made no effort to step inside.

_I musn't be afraid. I musn't be afraid. I musn't be afraid._

"Is something wrong?" Sho asked Ashley when she stared at the open door.

Ashley shook her head. "It's nothing, Mr. Ginzu. I'm okay."

She walked towards the open door and into the dark interior. Sho silently stood guard and drew out Lightning Light from the saya.

He knew that a fight was coming. Especially when they were able to pass through the maze without any signs of an enemy.

* * *

><p>L-Shaped corridor, Mansion, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Ashley carefully stepped into the corridor, using the flashlight to illuminate her path. She carried it on her right hand while the left hand held the stone tablet she took from the maze room's fireplace.<p>

"Nothing so far." The First Daughter observed the wall and the path from left to right, anticipating any kind of ambush. She made a left turn on the corridor.

_A suit of armor with a broadsword. _

Ashley noticed the suit of armor on the wall, which was on display. She inspected it and noted that it looked old, seeing grim and dust on it. A broadsword was seen on its hands, which held the sword's grip. Its blade was pointed down towards the stone ground.

"Nobody bothered to clean this up, that's for sure." When she passed it, she made a right turn and kept walking straight until she walked inside a small room with six suits of armor on both sides. They also appear to have a halberd on its hand. Both the armor and halbered appeared to have dust and rust due to age and storage inside the area.

"There's something here." Ashley checked the center of the room to see some sort of puzzle on the pedestal. Upon taking a closer look, there was one piece missing on it.

She examined the tablet on her left hand and checked the back again, remembering the hole that was there.

"Right. This tablet's surely meant for this." The tablet was placed on the left edge of the pedestal, big enough to accommodate the item without it falling off. Ashley touched the puzzle pieces of the pedestal and gently moved it to see if it was movable.

"All right. It can move." She analyzed the pedestal to examine the pieces. "It has some engraving on it, but I can't make it out. I'll have to assemble the pieces again." She took a deep breath and concentrated her attention on the pedestal's pieces.

_I got no choice. Even though I'm not usually good with puzzles, I need to solve this or we can't get out of this room._

Ashley examined the pieces on the pedestal. Out of the seven pieces present, there was only one hollow space in the center. This space was meant for the eight puzzle piece to be placed on it.

"Here goes." Focusing the flashlight on the pedestal pieces, she touched the middle left piece and pushed it towards the center.

_Some of the puzzle pieces form up some kind of shield crest. Like the ones you see in medieval times with the knights in Europe. Yeah, that's right. I just need to visualize it in my head._

She touched the upper left piece and pushed it down. When she saw another open gap in its place, the girl focused her attention on the upper middle and right pieces.

_Can I push two pieces at once?_ Deciding to try her luck, Ashley placed her three fingers on the upper right piece and pushed it all the way to the left.

_Okay! It worked. _Ashley was delighted to see some progress. _Better form the edges of that crest.  
><em>

She went to work in solving the puzzle, first by pushing the lower right piece up. This was followed by pushing the lower left piece to the right. Ashley repeated it again by pushing the upper left piece down, with the upper right piece pushed to the left again.

"There's a pattern for this if I keep this up." Ashley kept pushing the corner pieces around the center piece until she saw the crown at the upper middle position of the pedestal.

_That's the crest image I needed to see. All I have to do is to push this. _Ashley pushed the lower right piece up, which completed the puzzle. It had the image of a shield crest, with the exception of a gap on the lower right corner.

The tablet, which was left briefly on the left edge of the pedestal, was taken and placed on the gap.

She felt the room vibrate for a few seconds before the metal door opened up to the top, opening the way to another room.

"More surprises." Ashley sighed when she used her flashlight to inspect what was inside the room.

She prayed to not run into another trap when she walked inside.

* * *

><p>Storeroom, Mansion, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>When Ashley stepped inside the storeroom, the first thing that caught her attention was the long table placed in the center of the room. That, with small clouds of dust indicated that the room was not used for a long time.<p>

She covered her mouth and coughed when she felt the dust was in her lungs.

_Good thing it's not much dust or I'd cough all the way._

While searching the room, she found a treasure chest that sat on top of a cabinet. Ashley approached it and opened it up to obtain a Golden Bangle.

"Better wear this." Ashley placed it on her left wrist. "It's bad enough that I have to hold this flashlight."

She used the flashlight to illuminate the other parts of the room.

_There's something shining there. _She caught sight of something that was shining. _It's on a knight bust._

Something was lodged into the knight statue. Taking a good luck, it appeared to be an insignia.

"Probably from the family that made this castle." When Ashley took the Salazar Family Insignia from the bust, it moved until it was switched around with the blue treasure chest.

"So this was hidden behind the wall." Ashley placed the flashlight down next to the chest. She gripped the lid carefully and opened it slowly.

_Here goes nothing._

There was a puzzle piece inside the chest. It's different from the pedestal puzzle pieces she encountered earlier.

"If this is here," Ashley examined the Serpent Ornament piece after she got the flashlight again. It appeared to have the hind legs and tail of a lion. "then it means the bad guys were desperate to keep this hidden."

After the metal door opened up from behind, Ashley heard the rusting sounds of something moving towards the storeroom.

_Who's there? _

Ashley focused the flashlight on the only entrance of the storeroom. She saw the dusty suits of armors marching in towards her with their halberds ready to cut her down.

"Need to move." Ashley moved around the table to get around the moving suits, seeing their cumbersome and slow movements. She took advantage of it to leave right away and run back to the corridor.

* * *

><p>L-Shaped corridor, Mansion, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Ashley ran as fast as her legs can take her, reaching the middle part of the corridor when she saw the broadsword-wielding suit of armor slightly moving. It had the weapon raised above its helmet.<p>

When she got near the moving suit, its arms creaked a bit before it brought the blade down towards her head.

"Haaah!" The First Daughter dodged the attack by leaping away from the suit. This worked since the blade struck the ground in front of her. As soon as the suit crumbled to bits and pieces, she kicked the sword away with her right boot.

"Can't stop her. Got to keep moving." Ashley kept running down until she was back at the maze with Sho.

From there, it's a journey back out to the dais that she saw earlier.

* * *

><p>Maze Room, Mansion, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Sho already saw Ashley enter the maze room, looking really worried.<p>

"We need to go!" Ashley implored Sho when she grabbed his left arm. "There's not much time to explain, but I got something that can help us get out of this area."

Sho didn't say anything, except to run up ahead and head outside. Before Ashley followed him, she pressed the red switch in front of the red portcullis.

_That's better. _With the portcullis sealing off the path towards the corridor, the blond teen ran out of the maze to follow Sho back to the room with the sealed up fireplace and dais. During the escape, Ashley turned off the flashlight since the room had light anyway. She also planned to keep it for future use in navigating her way out in case she gets caught again by the cult.

* * *

><p>Small Room, Mansion, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Ashley showed Sho the dais that she had tried to use, but failed due to the handle being non-cooperative at the time.<p>

"I found this." She showed the ninja the Salazar Family Insignia.

"Nice work." Sho complimented Ashley for finding the item. He waited for her to place it in the center, which made it easier to use the dais' handle.

Ashley once again worked on the handle and turned it all the way after she got a good grip on it. When the dais was not moving anymore, the entire fireplace moved upwards to the ceiling.

"A fake fireplace." The ninja looked at the ladder and saw no one was on it. "So this was an escape route prepared by the master of the house."

Ashley got a good grip at the ladder. "Do I go first?"

"It matters not." Sho shook his head. "What matters is we leave this place and join up with the others."

Ashley nodded and started her ascent. When she made it to the top, Sho used the ladder and climbed up before he was able to link up with her.

* * *

><p>Secret Passageway, Above Small Room, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>Ashley was the first one to arrive at the passageway. She looked to the right and saw 1500 and 1800 pesetas on top of a table. She grabbed the money and handed them to Sho once he joined up with her.<p>

"It is fortunate that we found it." Sho said as he began to travel through the passageway. "Very useful for dealing with the Merchant."

The ninja moved ahead to check the path up ahead. Once he saw that no enemy was in the area, he called out to Ashley. "We can run down to the end. I see no enemy."

"Okay." Ashley replied to Sho's assessment.

Together, they kept running down the passageway until they were able to reach the end. Thanks to the candles mounted on the wall, they didn't have to worry about light.

_A door. We found it. _Sho gripped the door handle to check if it was not locked. He found that there was some kind of bolt responsible for keeping the door locked.

"Please stay back." Sho drew out Lightning Light and used it to cut the bolt into two.

With the door now unlocked, he went to the door and opened it first. Ashley then followed him by his side.

* * *

><p>Concourse, Mansion, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain<p>

* * *

><p>"It's Ashley and Sho!"<p>

Dan motioned to the others when they saw the two safe and sound. Ashley smiled when she reunited with the others, running towards them.

"Glad to see the First Daughter made it out alive." Yu smirked while he leaned up on the wall.

"Finally." Jean sighed. "I was about to get bored waiting for those two to get here."

"Ashley!" Diana was among the first to greet her. The blond girl ran up to hug Diana.

The Center agents smiled and greeted Ashley. Kevin, Leon and Chun-Li greeted Sho when he linked up with them.

"I'm sorry you guys..." Ashley spoke to the agents. "for anything that I may have done."

"It's alright." Eriko spoke to Ashley after the detective greeted Sho. "We're all glad that you're safe."

"Master." Dan and Hiryu bowed, their arms on their side, when they greeted Sho.

"Are you boys alright?" Sho asked the SHADOWs on their well-being.

"Don't worry about us, master." Hiryu insisted. "We're just glad that you're back."

"Did you two get anything before you got to the concourse?" Tea asked Sho and Ashley.

"We did." Sho nodded. "I was impressed by Ashley-san's self-defense training, which came in handy for her to defend herself."

"I-it was nothing." Ashley felt embarassed that a vigilante would praise her self-defense skills.

"Before we move," Jill spoke to Sho. "Let's go over anything that you guys found and take a small break."

Everyone agreed with Jill's suggestion.

In the meantime, Ashley handed the Serpent Ornament to Kevin. He then handed it for Leon so that he can get a look at it after he thanked her for securing an important item.

Even though she wasn't tired, which was in thanks to the parasite in her body, the girl decided that she needed to sit down. Jill helped her sit down onto the floor and get some rest, knowing that she was tired from running back and forth to get back to the party.

Chapter 19 END

* * *

><p>PS - Been a while now since another chapter is due. Apologies to everyone who waited. Long story short, I had moved back to Manila from Vancouver again. Had some angst and all in adjusting since I was still trying to get back to university to redeem myself from the bad grade that I had. Though it's getting more and more likely that it'll take a while before I have that chance, so I have to grudgingly wait and see before the credits can expire since I need to use them for a transfer from the community college. Worse thing is that I may have to do this by distance education online from the Philippines.<p>

I just followed how Leon used his sniper rifle to provide cover for Ashley since it's not gonna be meaningful if most of them jump down and free Ashley. I got Sho for that one since he need more spotlight in the story, never mind that he has little exposure in other Capcom material.

Note that Ashley calls Sho as Ginzu. In the non-Asian version of Captain Commando, his name is Ginzu. So I'm using this name change with a backstory reason that non-Asians know of the Commandos with different names thanks to some people in the media who misnamed them, except for Captain Commando since he has the same name in all versions of the game. Yeah... that's a good logical explanation.

In the meantime, I did story updates for the past few weeks for "Peacekeepers", "The Stories" and a recent story set in Macross Frontier called "Conspiracy", though the latter is planned for a AU plot in the vein of a technothriller story like Tom Clancy, Chris Ryan and Stephen Leather. Feel free to check them out and review to let me know what you think of them.

Anyway, feel free to read up on this chapter and let me know how it is when you review, even if I made a mistake in here somewhere. Been a while since this updated and I hope that I don't delay this again.

So the chapter ends at the start of Chapter 4-1. Should be nine more in-game chapters to go. I don't know how to translate that to in-fic chapters.

* * *

><p>Pesetas in Total = 247,700<p> 


End file.
